One of the most interesting materials I was exposed to in a college french course was actually an 8th-grade level French history book. It was beautifully illustrated, not all that difficult to read, and it spanned an impressive amount of time and material (at least compared to the US history books I had been exposed to before)

I was really surprised to see a whole chapter dedicated to Ancient Gaul, a place I had never even heard of until then. Brits may begin their history with Rome, but us Americans seem to start our tale in England (with perhaps a very small nod to the native cultures that predated English colonization). Anyhow, it's fascinating from the American perspective how relatively "young" we really are as a national identity.