A Certain Idea of France

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Publisher : Penguin UK
ISBN 13 : 1846143527
Total Pages : 866 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (461 download)

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Book Synopsis A Certain Idea of France by : Julian Jackson

Download or read book A Certain Idea of France written by Julian Jackson and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2018-06-18 with total page 866 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A SUNDAY TIMES, THE TIMES, DAILY TELEGRAPH, NEW STATESMAN, SPECTATOR, FINANCIAL TIMES, TLS BOOK OF THE YEAR 'Masterly ... awesome reading ... an outstanding biography' Max Hastings, Sunday Times The definitive biography of the greatest French statesman of modern times In six weeks in the early summer of 1940, France was over-run by German troops and quickly surrendered. The French government of Marshal Pétain sued for peace and signed an armistice. One little-known junior French general, refusing to accept defeat, made his way to England. On 18 June he spoke to his compatriots over the BBC, urging them to rally to him in London. 'Whatever happens, the flame of French resistance must not be extinguished and will not be extinguished.' At that moment, Charles de Gaulle entered into history. For the rest of the war, de Gaulle frequently bit the hand that fed him. He insisted on being treated as the true embodiment of France, and quarrelled violently with Churchill and Roosevelt. He was prickly, stubborn, aloof and self-contained. But through sheer force of personality and bloody-mindedness he managed to have France recognised as one of the victorious Allies, occupying its own zone in defeated Germany. For ten years after 1958 he was President of France's Fifth Republic, which he created and which endures to this day. His pursuit of 'a certain idea of France' challenged American hegemony, took France out of NATO and twice vetoed British entry into the European Community. His controversial decolonization of Algeria brought France to the brink of civil war and provoked several assassination attempts. Julian Jackson's magnificent biography reveals this the life of this titanic figure as never before. It draws on a vast range of published and unpublished memoirs and documents - including the recently opened de Gaulle archives - to show how de Gaulle achieved so much during the War when his resources were so astonishingly few, and how, as President, he put a medium-rank power at the centre of world affairs. No previous biography has depicted his paradoxes so vividly. Much of French politics since his death has been about his legacy, and he remains by far the greatest French leader since Napoleon.

The Right Wing in France

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Publisher : University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN 13 : 1512806072
Total Pages : 484 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (128 download)

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Book Synopsis The Right Wing in France by : René Rémond

Download or read book The Right Wing in France written by René Rémond and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2016-11-11 with total page 484 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Gaullist regime in France has aroused much interest in the nature of French politics. This stimulating analysis of the conservative faction in France, revised by the author to include the government of General de Gaulle, should be of interest not only to students of that country's history and politics but also to general readers who would understand France's political tradition and where de Gaulle fits into it. This work is translated from the second and revised edition of La Droite en France: de le Première Restauration á la Ve République, published in Paris in 1963.

The General

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Publisher : Skyhorse Publishing Inc.
ISBN 13 : 1620878054
Total Pages : 721 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (28 download)

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Book Synopsis The General by : Jonathan Fenby

Download or read book The General written by Jonathan Fenby and published by Skyhorse Publishing Inc.. This book was released on 2013-07 with total page 721 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No leader of modern times was more uniquely patriotic than Charles de Gaulle. In his twenties, he fought for France in the trenches and at the epic battle of Verdun. In the 1930s, he waged a lonely battle to enable France to better resist Hitler Germany. Thereafter, he twice rescued the nation from defeat and decline by extraordinary displays of leadership, political acumen, daring, and bluff, heading off civil war and leaving a heritage adopted by his successors of right and left. Le General, as he became known from 1940 on, appeared as if he was carved from a single monumental block, but was in fact extremely complex, a man with deep personal feelings and recurrent mood swings, devoted to his family and often seeking reassurance from those around him. This is a magisterial, sweeping biography of one of the great leaders of the twentieth century and of the country with which he so identified himself. Written with terrific verve, narrative skill, and rigorous detail, the first major work on de Gaulle in fifteen years brings alive as never before the private man as well as the public leader. -- Publisher description.

General de Gaulle's Cold War

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Publisher : Berghahn Books
ISBN 13 : 1782380167
Total Pages : 282 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (823 download)

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Book Synopsis General de Gaulle's Cold War by : Garret Joseph Martin

Download or read book General de Gaulle's Cold War written by Garret Joseph Martin and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2013-09-01 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The greatest threat to the Western alliance in the 1960s did not come from an enemy, but from an ally. France, led by its mercurial leader General Charles de Gaulle, launched a global and comprehensive challenge to the United State’s leadership of the Free World, tackling not only the political but also the military, economic, and monetary spheres. Successive American administrations fretted about de Gaulle, whom they viewed as an irresponsible nationalist at best and a threat to their presence in Europe at worst. Based on extensive international research, this book is an original analysis of France’s ambitious grand strategy during the 1960s and why it eventually failed. De Gaulle’s failed attempt to overcome the Cold War order reveals important insights about why the bipolar international system was able to survive for so long, and why the General’s legacy remains significant to current French foreign policy.

In the Shadow of the General

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Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0195308883
Total Pages : 253 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (953 download)

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Book Synopsis In the Shadow of the General by : Sudhir Hazareesingh

Download or read book In the Shadow of the General written by Sudhir Hazareesingh and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2012-07-26 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The French writer Francois Mauriac once predicted that "when de Gaulle will be here no longer, he will still be here." This insight has proved prophetic. In contemporary France, Charles de Gaulle has become a figure of legend, consistently acclaimed as the nation's pre-eminent "historical" figure. Central to this popularity is the recognition of his pivotal role as the founder, and then the leader, of the Resistance movement during the Second World War. Once might be tempted to conclude that it is the man who became mythical, not the institutions he created. But here, the paradoxes abound. For one thing, his personal popularity sits oddly with his social origins and professional background. Neither the nobility, nor the Catholic Church, nor the Army is particularly well-regarded in France today: in their different ways, they all symbolize antiquated traditions and values. So why, then, do the French nonetheless identify with, celebrate, and even revere this austere and devout nobleman, who remained closely wedded to military values throughout his life? In the Shadow of the General resolves this mystery and explains how de Gaulle has to come occupy such a privileged position in the French imagination. Sudhir Hazareesingh's story of how an individual life transformed into national myth also tells a great deal about the French collective self in the twenty-first century: its fractured memory, its aspirations to greatness, and its manifold anxieties. Alongside the tale of de Gaulle's legacy, a much broader narrative unfolds: the story of modern France.

De Gaulle

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Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674988728
Total Pages : 663 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (749 download)

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Book Synopsis De Gaulle by : Julian Jackson

Download or read book De Gaulle written by Julian Jackson and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2018-08-13 with total page 663 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Duff Cooper Prize Winner of the Elizabeth Longford Prize A New Yorker, Financial Times, Spectator, Times, and Telegraph Book of the Year In this definitive biography of the mythic general who refused to accept the Nazi domination of France, Julian Jackson captures Charles de Gaulle as never before. Drawing on unpublished letters, memoirs, and papers from the recently opened de Gaulle archive, he shows how this volatile visionary of staunch faith and conservative beliefs infuriated Churchill, challenged American hegemony, recognized the limitations of colonial ambitions in Algeria and Vietnam, and put a broken France back at the center of world affairs. “With a fluent style and near-total command of existing and newly available sources...Julian Jackson has come closer than anyone before him to demystifying this conservative at war with the status quo, for whom national interests were inseparable from personal honor.” —Richard Norton Smith, Wall Street Journal “A sweeping-yet-concise introduction to the most brilliant, infuriating, and ineffably French of men.” —Ross Douthat, New York Times “Classically composed and authoritative...Jackson writes wonderful political history.” —Adam Gopnik, New Yorker “A remarkable book in which the man widely chosen as the Greatest Frenchman is dissected, intelligently and lucidly, then put together again in an extraordinary fair-minded, highly readable portrait. Throughout, the book tells a thrilling story.” —Antonia Fraser, New Statesman “Makes awesome reading, and is a tribute to the fascination of its subject, and to Jackson’s mastery of it...A triumph, and hugely readable.” —Max Hastings, Sunday Times

Globalizing de Gaulle

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Publisher : Lexington Books
ISBN 13 : 073914250X
Total Pages : 328 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (391 download)

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Book Synopsis Globalizing de Gaulle by : Christian Nuenlist

Download or read book Globalizing de Gaulle written by Christian Nuenlist and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2010-04-27 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: French President Charles de Gaulle (1958-1969) has consistently fascinated contemporaries and historians. His vision_conceived out of national interest_of uniting Europe under French leadership and overcoming the Cold War still remains relevant and appealing. De Gaulle's towering personality and his challenge to US hegemony in the Cold War have inspired a vast number of political biographies and analyses of the foreign policies of the Fifth Republic mostly from French or US angle. In contrast, this book serves to rediscover de Gaulle's global policies how they changed the Cold War. Offering truly global perspectives on France's approach to the world during de Gaulle's presidency, the 13 well-matched essays by leading experts in the field tap into newly available sources drawn from US, European, Asian, African and Latin American archives. Together, the contributions integrate previously neglected regions, actors and topics with more familiar and newly approached phenomena into a global picture of the General's international policy-making. The volume at hand is an example of how cutting-edge research benefits from multipolar and multi-archival approaches and from attention to big, middle and smaller powers as well as institutions.

The Republic of de Gaulle 1958-1969

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521252393
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (523 download)

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Book Synopsis The Republic of de Gaulle 1958-1969 by : Serge Berstein

Download or read book The Republic of de Gaulle 1958-1969 written by Serge Berstein and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1993-04 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Republic of De Gaulle offers a comprehensive account - the fullest yet available in English - of the eleven years that followed the establishment of the Fifth Republic in 1958. Serge Berstein analyses the new constitutional and political system that emerged under De Gaulle, and shows how France was able to disengage from the ruinous Algerian War. He then conducts a detailed analysis of the socio-economic changes wrought during this period, and discusses the aims of De Gaulle's highly individualistic foreign policy. In the final section Professor Berstein traces the decline of De Gaulle's ascendancy up to his eventual resignation in 1969. In conclusion the author assesses the contribution of a remarkable political leader to the not less remarkable changes that took place in France during his presidency. This volume, lucidly translated by Peter Morris, features all those student aids now associated with the series.

Napoleon and de Gaulle

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Publisher : Belknap Press
ISBN 13 : 0674988388
Total Pages : 417 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (749 download)

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Book Synopsis Napoleon and de Gaulle by : Patrice Gueniffey

Download or read book Napoleon and de Gaulle written by Patrice Gueniffey and published by Belknap Press. This book was released on 2020-05-12 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An Australian Book Review Best Book of the Year One of France’s most famous historians compares two exemplars of political and military leadership to make the unfashionable case that individuals, for better and worse, matter in history. Historians have taught us that the past is not just a tale of heroes and wars. The anonymous millions matter and are active agents of change. But in democratizing history, we have lost track of the outsized role that individual will and charisma can play in shaping the world, especially in moments of extreme tumult. Patrice Gueniffey provides a compelling reminder in this powerful dual biography of two transformative leaders, Napoleon Bonaparte and Charles de Gaulle. Both became national figures at times of crisis and war. They were hailed as saviors and were eager to embrace the label. They were also animated by quests for personal and national greatness, by the desire to raise France above itself and lead it on a mission to enlighten the world. Both united an embattled nation, returned it to dignity, and left a permanent political legacy—in Napoleon’s case, a form of administration and a body of civil law; in de Gaulle’s case, new political institutions. Gueniffey compares Napoleon’s and de Gaulle’s journeys to power; their methods; their ideas and writings, notably about war; and their postmortem reputations. He also contrasts their weaknesses: Napoleon’s limitless ambitions and appetite for war and de Gaulle’s capacity for cruelty, manifested most clearly in Algeria. They were men of genuine talent and achievement, with flaws almost as pronounced as their strengths. As many nations, not least France, struggle to find their soul in a rapidly changing world, Gueniffey shows us what a difference an extraordinary leader can make.

Charles de Gaulle

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Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 1442236760
Total Pages : 377 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (422 download)

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Book Synopsis Charles de Gaulle by : William R. Keylor

Download or read book Charles de Gaulle written by William R. Keylor and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-12-07 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this definitive history, William R. Keylor traces the tumultuous relationship between Charles de Gaulle and a host of other key twentieth-century figures: his former mentor Marshal Philippe Pétain, who headed the collaborationist government in the southern French city of Vichy as the German army occupied the northern two-thirds of the country; Sir Winston Churchill, the British prime minister whose government supported and financed de Gaulle and the Free French, but who clashed with the French leader on a number of hot-button issues; and, most critically, the six American presidents from FDR to Nixon. Keylor uses the metaphor “thorn in the side” to emphasize the fact that challenges from the intrepid French leader were often an annoyance to the Americans, who all had many more important issues to deal with—World War II for Roosevelt and Truman, the Cold War for Eisenhower, and the Vietnam War for Kennedy and Johnson. Richard Nixon alone had an excellent relationship, but the two men overlapped for only four months before de Gaulle’s retirement. Thoroughly researched and deeply knowledgeable, this gripping book will appeal to all readers interested in contemporary French and US history.

JFK and de Gaulle

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Publisher : University Press of Kentucky
ISBN 13 : 0813177766
Total Pages : 297 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (131 download)

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Book Synopsis JFK and de Gaulle by : Sean J. McLaughlin

Download or read book JFK and de Gaulle written by Sean J. McLaughlin and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2019-08-20 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite French President Charles de Gaulle's persistent efforts to constructively share French experience and use his resources to help engineer an American exit from Vietnam, the Kennedy administration responded to de Gaulle's peace initiatives with bitter silence and inaction. The administration's response ignited a series of events that dealt a massive blow to American prestige across the globe, resulting in the deaths of over fifty-eight thousand American soldiers and turning hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese citizens into refugees. This history of Franco-American relations during the Kennedy presidency explores how and why France and the US disagreed over the proper western strategy for the Vietnam War. France clearly had more direct political experience in Vietnam, but France's postwar decolonization cemented Kennedy's perception that the French were characterized by a toxic mixture of short-sightedness, stubbornness, and indifference to the collective interests of the West. At no point did the Kennedy administration give serious consideration to de Gaulle's proposals or entertain the notion of using his services as an honest broker in order to disengage from a situation that was rapidly spiraling out of control. Kennedy's Francophobia, the roots of which appear in a selection of private writings from Kennedy's undergraduate years at Harvard, biased his decision-making. The course of action Kennedy chose in 1963, a rejection of the French peace program, all but handcuffed Lyndon Johnson into formally entering a war he knew the United States had little chance of winning.

The Liberation of Paris

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Publisher : Simon & Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1501164937
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (11 download)

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Book Synopsis The Liberation of Paris by : Jean Edward Smith

Download or read book The Liberation of Paris written by Jean Edward Smith and published by Simon & Schuster. This book was released on 2020-07-21 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prize-winning and bestselling historian Jean Edward Smith tells the “rousing” (Jay Winik, author of 1944) story of the liberation of Paris during World War II—a triumph achieved only through the remarkable efforts of Americans, French, and Germans, racing to save the city from destruction. Following their breakout from Normandy in late June 1944, the Allies swept across northern France in pursuit of the German army. The Allies intended to bypass Paris and cross the Rhine into Germany, ending the war before winter set in. But as they advanced, local forces in Paris began their own liberation, defying the occupying German troops. Charles de Gaulle, the leading figure of the Free French government, urged General Dwight Eisenhower to divert forces to liberate Paris. Eisenhower’s advisers recommended otherwise, but Ike wanted to help position de Gaulle to lead France after the war. And both men were concerned about partisan conflict in Paris that could leave the communists in control of the city and the national government. Neither man knew that the German commandant, Dietrich von Choltitz, convinced that the war was lost, schemed to surrender the city to the Allies intact, defying Hitler’s orders to leave it a burning ruin. In The Liberation of Paris, Jean Edward Smith puts “one of the most moving moments in the history of the Second World War” (Michael Korda) in context, showing how the decision to free the city came at a heavy price: it slowed the Allied momentum and allowed the Germans to regroup. After the war German generals argued that Eisenhower’s decision to enter Paris prolonged the war for another six months. Was Paris worth this price? Smith answers this question in a “brisk new recounting” that is “terse, authoritative, [and] unsentimental” (The Washington Post).

Modern France

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Publisher : OUP USA
ISBN 13 : 0195389417
Total Pages : 153 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (953 download)

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Book Synopsis Modern France by : Vanessa R. Schwartz

Download or read book Modern France written by Vanessa R. Schwartz and published by OUP USA. This book was released on 2011-10-10 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The French Revolution, politics and the modern nation -- French and the civilizing mission -- Paris and magnetic appeal -- France stirs up the melting pot -- France hurtles into the future.

When France Fell

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Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674258568
Total Pages : 321 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (742 download)

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Book Synopsis When France Fell by : Michael S. Neiberg

Download or read book When France Fell written by Michael S. Neiberg and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2021-10-19 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shocked by the fall of France in 1940, panicked US leaders rushed to back the Vichy governmentÑa fateful decision that nearly destroyed the AngloÐAmerican alliance. According to US Secretary of War Henry Stimson, the Òmost shocking single eventÓ of World War II was not the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but rather the fall of France in spring 1940. Michael Neiberg offers a dramatic history of the American responseÑa policy marked by panic and moral ineptitude, which placed the United States in league with fascism and nearly ruined the alliance with Britain. The successful Nazi invasion of France destabilized American plannersÕ strategic assumptions. At home, the result was huge increases in defense spending, the advent of peacetime military conscription, and domestic spying to weed out potential fifth columnists. Abroad, the United States decided to work with Vichy France despite its pro-Nazi tendencies. The USÐVichy partnership, intended to buy time and temper the flames of war in Europe, severely strained AngloÐAmerican relations. American leaders naively believed that they could woo men like Philippe PŽtain, preventing France from becoming a formal German ally. The British, however, understood that Vichy was subservient to Nazi Germany and instead supported resistance figures such as Charles de Gaulle. After the war, the choice to back Vichy tainted USÐFrench relations for decades. Our collective memory of World War II as a period of American strength overlooks the desperation and faulty decision making that drove US policy from 1940 to 1943. Tracing the key diplomatic and strategic moves of these formative years, When France Fell gives us a more nuanced and complete understanding of the war and of the global position the United States would occupy afterward.

De Gaulle

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Publisher : St. Martin's Press
ISBN 13 : 0230340563
Total Pages : 226 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (33 download)

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Book Synopsis De Gaulle by : Michael E. Haskew

Download or read book De Gaulle written by Michael E. Haskew and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2011-09-27 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Michael Haskew takes us on a tremendous journey through de Gaulle's pivotal years, his leadership of the resistance, and beyond to understand the man who remade both modern military tactics and global leadership. Charles de Gaulle once stated, "France has no friends, only interests," and it was this strength of mind and love of country that took the region from an occupied territory during World War II to a leader in the Allied cause. Convinced that his personal destiny and that of his beloved country were intertwined, de Gaulle's life's work was dedicated to advancing its preeminence among nations. Even while the country lay prostrate before the Nazis, he maintained the honor of the French people, choosing to resist rather than to collaborate. His presidency was no less visionary; under de Gaulle, France became a nuclear power, granted autonomy to more than a dozen of its former colonial holdings, and maintained an influential presence on the world stage.

The Edge of the Sword

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Author :
Publisher : Greenwood Publishing Group
ISBN 13 : 9780837183664
Total Pages : 128 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (836 download)

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Book Synopsis The Edge of the Sword by : Charles de Gaulle

Download or read book The Edge of the Sword written by Charles de Gaulle and published by Greenwood Publishing Group. This book was released on 1975-01-01 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The Three Lives of Charles De Gaulle

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Author :
Publisher : Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 345 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis The Three Lives of Charles De Gaulle by : David Schoenbrun

Download or read book The Three Lives of Charles De Gaulle written by David Schoenbrun and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2024-11-03 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “[O]ne of the best introductions in English to this awkward and impressive figure which constantly reminds us that men of destiny make difficult company... an honest and enjoyable book.” — Political Science Quarterly “David Schoenbrun wrote his book from the vantage-point of frequent personal contacts with de Gaulle and many years residence in France. He blends biography and history, equally concerned with his protagonist’s mind and character as with the sequence of events, in this well-balanced account of de Gaulle the Soldier, the Savior of France, and the Statesman. Schoenbrun finds much to admire in the soldier, but he grows more critical as the Messianic de Gaulle rises or climbs to the dizzy heights of the Presidency which thanks to de Gaulle’s Constitution now has more power than the king who proclaimed "l’état c’est moi"... this enthralling book is well worth reading.” — World Affairs “David Schoenbrun is a top CBS newsman and analyst with an impressive accessibility to the great and knowledge of politics, in particular French politics... he applies his experience and qualifications to the task of presenting formidable Charles de Gaulle of France. It is a full dress biography.” — Kirkus “Au total, le portrait sympathique que Schoenbrun brosse de de Gaulle vient à propos en un temps où beaucoup d’Américains critiquent âprement la politique et la personne du Président français. Par sa narration des évènements de la seconde guerre mondiale, il justifie l’attitude qu’observera souvent de Gaulle à l’égard de l’Angleterre et des Etats-Unis, ce qui ne l’empêche pas de montrer de Gaulle manœuvrant pour s’attribuer le pouvoir suprême, conformément à la doctrine développée dans son livre Le fil de l’épée, où se révèlent ses ambitions dictatoriales et, en même temps, un sens politique assez aigu, qui lui permet de comprendre qu’une dictature n’est concevable que soutenue par un large courant populaire.” — Revue d’histoire de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale