That Sweet Enemy

ROBERT TOMBS is professor of history at the University of Cambridge and a leading scholar of Anglo-French relations. His most recent book, That Sweet Enemy: The French and the British from the Sun King to the Present, co-authored with his wife, Isabelle Tombs, is the first large-scale study of the relationship between the French and the British over the last three centuries.

Robert Tombs was born in England, studied at Cambridge and conducted doctoral research on modern French history in France, where he was connected to the Université de Paris IV (Sorbonne). Isabelle Tombs was born in France, studied at the Université de Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne) and received a Ph.D in modern British history at Trinity College, Cambridge. Presently, Isabelle teaches French to British diplomats at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London. Robert teaches history at Cambridge University, where he is a Fellow of St John’s College. They share dual nationality and live in Cambridge, England.