Author: Julian Jackson
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674988728
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 663
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Book Description
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 Drawing on unpublished letters, memoirs, and papers from the recently opened de Gaulle archive, he shows how this volatile visionary of staunch faith and conservative beliefs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
Author: Julian Jackson
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 1846143527
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 866
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Book Description
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.
Author: Patrice Gueniffey
Publisher: Belknap Press
ISBN: 0674988388
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 417
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Book Description
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.
Author: David Schoenbrun
Publisher: Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 345
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Book Description
“[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
Author: Garret Joseph Martin
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 1782380167
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 282
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Book Description
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.
Author: Jonathan Fenby
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing Inc.
ISBN: 1620878054
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 721
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Book Description
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.
Author: Will Morrisey
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN: 9781442241190
Category : France
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
This book compares Churchill and de Gaulle as they thought, spoke, and acted through two world wars and the subsequent Cold War. Although the world is very different now, this nuanced history shows how thinking along with these giants of the twentieth century as they responded to the crises of their time will make us more thoughtful citizens today.
Author: René Rémond
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 1512806072
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 484
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Book Description
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.
Author: Sudhir Hazareesingh
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195308883
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 253
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Book Description
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.
Author: Michael E. Haskew
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 0230340563
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 226
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Book Description
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.
