France during World War II
From Defeat to Liberation
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In this concise, clearly written book, Thomas and Michael Christofferson provide a balanced introduction to every aspect of the French experience during World War II.
Synthesizing a wide range of scholarship, the authors integrate political, diplomatic, military, social, cultural, and economic history in this portrait of a nation and a people at war. Here is a chronicle of the battles and campaigns that stained French soil with blood. Here, also, is the full historical context of the war—its origins, realities, and aftermath—in French society. The authors pay particular attention to the key failures of institutional France—especially the officer corps, political elites, and the Catholic Church. They also assess the controversial history of the Vichy regime and the German occupation, in carefully crafted accounts of resistance and collaboration, Vichy’s National Revolution, and the fate of France’s Jews.
Accessible to both students and general readers, France during World War II develops a full understanding of the actors, events, issues, and controversies of a turbulent era.
With its comprehensive coverage and clear, readable prose, this text is ideal for undergraduate use. Highly recommended.——Choice
. . .A well-packed narrative of the years of violence and despair that marked France during the international and domestic debacle of World War II.——H-France Review
. . . An excellent synthesis of the controversies and scholarly literature in English and French that surround the defeat of France in 1940 and subsequent years of Vichy and occupation.——The Historian
Offers a strong interpretive, historiographic framework, outlining the major trends in examining Vichy since 1945.——Donna Ryan, author of The Holocaust & the Jews of Marseille: The Enforcement of Anti-Semitic Policies in Vichy France
...addresses a large set of issues in compact fashion.——Kathryn Amdur, Emory University, author of Syndicalist Legacy: Trade Unions and Politics in Two French Cities in the Era of World War I
Thomas R. Christofferson is William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of History Emeritus at Drew University. His publications include The French Socialists in Power, 1981–1986: From Autogestion to Cohabitation.
Michael S. Christofferson (Author)
Michael S. Christofferson is Associate Professor of History at The Pennsylvania State University, Erie. His publications include French Intellectuals against the Left: The Antitotalitarian Moment of the 1970s.