From the Back Cover:

Why, in mediaeval times, did men choose to build a huge abbey on this rugged, inaccessible rock? How, in just a few centuries could they erect so many skillfully-balanced buildings that seem to defy nature itself? How did the craftsmen manage to give the Mont this incredible beauty in which the simplicity of detail blends into the overall impression of total harmony? This is the history of a place that has no equal. The Mont-Saint-Michel's past is part of the destiny of the whole continent of Europe, spanning the period from the first Christians to the Wars of Religion, from the lugubrious prison cells to the revival of the present day. Created as a place of prayer and solitude, the tiny island was often battered by the whirlwinds of war. It is this that gave it the appearance of fortified cathedral or a monastery-citadel.

Lucien Bely, a former public of the Ecole Normale Superieure, has a post-graduate diploma in History. He also attended the Foundation Thiers. He has already published a number of works on Mont-Saint-Michel and Normandy.

Pierre Joubert is often recognized as the best illustrator in France of the 20th Century. He has worked on more than one thousand books and he is well known far beyond the frontiers of his native land.