Archives, monuments, celebrations:there are not merely the recollections of memory but also the foundations of history. Symbols, the third and final volume in Pierre Nora's monumental Realms of Memory, includes groundbreaking discussions of the emblems of France's past by some of the nation's most distinguished intellectuals. The seventeen essays in this book consider such diverse "sites" of memory as the figures of Joan D'Arc and Decartes, the national motto of "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity", the tricolor flag and the French language itself. Pierre Nora's closing essay on commemoration provides a culminating overview of the series. Offering a new approach on history, culture, French studies and the studies of symbols, Realms of Memory reveals how the myriad meanings we attach to places and events constitute our sense of history.

皮埃爾·諾拉(Pierre Nora，1931-)，法國著名曆史學傢和學術編輯，著有《阿爾及利亞的法國人》《現在、國民、記憶》《法國研究》等，主編三部七捲本《記憶之場》。1993年，《記憶之場》獲得法國最高國傢學術奬，同年“記憶之場”(Les Lieux de Mémoire)詞條被收入《羅貝爾法語大詞典》。2001年，諾拉當選為僅有四十名定員的法蘭西學術院院士。