- These stories are clever, wise, reflective and permeated with understanding of what it has meant for generations from the British Isles to cross the Channel.No one has a better perspective to see things from both sides of the Channel than Julian Barnes. He is not only one of the premier writers in Britain but his prize-winning work has long been admired and recognised in France. In these exquisitely crafted and turned stories spanning several centuries, Julian Barnes takes as his universal theme the British in France, our fascination with the country, our various and mixed reasons for being there and our sometimes ambiguous reception.