de Gaulle
How the myth of Paris liberating itself was born
When De Gaulle persuaded Eisenhower to allow the French 2nd armoured division to lead a diversion into the city on 25 August 1944, it was his own political future he was thinking of
My host’s reciprocity was almost embarrassingly generous
Peace came dropping slow. I have never regarded west Flanders as part of la France profonde, but here we were,…
One événement after another
The great conundrum of French history is the French Revolution, or rather, the sequence of revolutions, coups and insurrections during…
Not-so-evil genius
It is almost inconceivable that there could be a more densely detailed book about Napoleon than this — 800 crowded…
A dogged opportunist
Of a dashing political rival, François Mitterrand once remarked: He was more intelligent than I was, he thought faster than…
