Five essays by the distinguished French historian of England. Three of them are summaries of other men's work: a letter by Ethelred, twelfth-century Abbot of Rievaulx, to his full sister, an anchoress, giving her advice on the life of a recluse; the report of a traveller to 15th-century Scotland, who was sent to recover a Scottish Princess - his voyage was much troubled, and he may have been wise to attempt to pay off a substitute; and the diary of a French Protestant who travelled to England in 1663, and rejoiced in spending much time with Thomas Hobbes. Also, a life of Paul Scarron, comedian, playwright, novelist, cripple - and first husband of Madame de Maintenon; and a letter of the French ambassador to London reporting on Voltaire's visit to England during his exile, translated in full with commentary