The port of Nantes, a 3000 year history, 2006, 116 p., ill. coul. -

The port of Nantes is one of France's oldest ports, its origins lying in the tin found in the region. As we turn the pages of this book we delve into mystery of the Corbilo of Antiquity, we witness the re-birth of Portus Namnetum, the struggles of Bishop Felix, the ravages of invasion and civil war, the benefits bestowed by Pierre of France, the misery brought by the ambitious Duc de Mercœur, the parts played by corsaires and galleys and well before the creation of the European Union the place of the Spanish and Dutch in the city. This said, we are also able to discern what it is about the people of Nantes – their special qualities – that has enabled them to develop their port. We also discover the amazing vitality of a port that was in 1664 France's eighth port – behind Honfleur – and yet which was, a century later, Europe's largest port.After the 18th century, when fortunes were built on slavery and the start of the 19th century when the slave trade, although illegal returned, came a period of change that ushered in the great age of the naval shipyard. The port's remarkable capacity for renewal meant that, in 1966, all the ports of the estuary joined forces to become a single organisation, the Port Authority of Nantes Saint-Nazaire. Today this port is the Atlantic coast's leading port, but its successes, its hopes and its future are all a continuation of its 3000 year history. Catherine Decours, a Nantes author who has twice been honoured by the Académie Française, paints a vast historical panorama, the history of the port of Nantes. Existe également en version française : DECOURS C., Le Port de Nantes a 3000 ans, 2006 (référence 33796).