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"Generals France Biography."
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A certain idea of France : the life of Charles de Gaulle
A life 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 It draws on a vast range of published and unpublished memoirs and documents - including the recently opened de Gaulle archives - to show how de Gaulle achieved so much during the War when his resources were so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.
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The Black Count : glory, revolution, betrayal, and the real Count of Monte Cristo
Explores the life and career of Thomas Alexandre Dumas, a man almost unknown today, but whose swashbuckling exploits appear in The three musketeers and whose trials and triumphs inspired The count of Monte Cristo.
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The Paris Game
Long dismissed as a vain and arrogant self-seeker chasing glory, Charles de Gaulle is revealed in The Paris Game as a transformative figure of the twentieth century whose unflagging determination brings France back from defeat and saves it from the twin threats of Communism and dictatorship.
eBook
The Boulanger Affair reconsidered : royalism, Boulangism, and the origins of the radical right in France
Recent scholarship on the French Boulangist movement has focused on the combination of socialism and chauvinism behind it, but this study argues that it was royalist and conservative support that provided the crucial backing.
eBook
Lafayette : hero of the American Revolution
The rousing story of Lafayette-- aide-de-camp and \"adopted son\" of George Washington-- explores his vital role in the American Revolution.
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The Defense of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Northern Italy, 1813-1814
Little has been written about the defense of the Kingdom of Northern Italy, and this is the first study in English to detail the two-year conflict (1813-1814) within the larger context of the Napoleonic Wars. The French commander responsible for the defense was Eugene Beauharnais, stepson of Napoleon and son-in-law of the King of Bavaria. Outnumbered three to one, Beauharnais fought an outstanding defensive campaign, covering all of Napoleon's southern front while Napoleon faced off against the main allied armies as they invaded France. This was only Beauharnais's third command, and as a result of his less than stellar performance in his two earlier posts, he had acquired a poor reputation as a leader. Nafziger and Gioannini explain, however, that in this instance Beauharnais proved himself once and for all as the commander of an independent army, defending one of the most important parts of the French Napoleonic Empire. He made full use of geography, keeping his army in being, rather than risking it to seek a decision in the field. Because his stepson held the plains of Italy, Napoleon was able to concentrate his energies upon the evacuation of Germany and to demonstrate his military prowess in France.
eBook
Foch in command : the forging of a First World War general
\"Ferdinand Foch ended the First World War as marshal of France and supreme commander of the Allied armies on the Western Front. Foch in command is a pioneering study of his contribution to the Allied victory. Elizabeth Greenhalgh uses contemporary notebooks, letters, and documents from previously under-studied archives to chart how the artillery officer, who had never commanded troops in battle when the war began, learned to fight the enemy, to cope with difficult colleagues and allies, and to manoeuvre through the political minefield of civil-military relations. She offers valuable insights into neglected questions: the contribution of unified command to the Allied victory; the role of a commander's general staff; and the mechanisms of command at corps and army level. She demonstrates how an energetic Foch developed war-winning strategies for a modern industrial war and how political realities contributed to his losing the peace\"-- Provided by publisher.
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Le marquis de Lafayette
Découvrez enfin tout ce qu'il faut savoir sur Lafayette en moins d'une heure! Parti en Amérique contre la volonté de son entourage et même du roi, Lafayette, tout juste âgé de 20 ans, se lance à corps perdu dans la guerre d'indépendance. Son engagement précoce, son indéfectibilité et son talent militaire feront de lui un véritable héros, celui des deux mondes. Animé par les valeurs américaines que sont la liberté, l'égalité des droits et des devoirs, il n'aura de cesse de les défendre à son retour en France, alors que le pays connaît lui aussi sa Révolution. Il est de tous les combats menés pour la liberté, celle qu'il chérit tant. Ce livre vous permettra d'en savoir plus sur: •La vie de Lafayette
•Le contexte de l'époque
•Les temps forts de la vie de Lafayette
•Les conséquences de ses actions Le mot de l'éditeur:
« Dans ce numéro de la collection 50MINUTES Grandes Personnalités, Hadrien Nafilyan dresse un portrait passionnant d'un Lafayette ardent défenseur de la liberté et de la justice. Véritable star aux États-Unis, sa mémoire est célébrée chaque année depuis sa mort par l'ambassadeur des États-Unis en France. Et pour cause, les Américains le considèrent comme un véritable héros, lui qui a traversé le monde pour défendre leurs idéaux. La légende de Lafayette ne se ternira pas de sitôt. » Stéphanie Dagrain À PROPOS DE LA SÉRIE 50MINUTES | Grandes Personnalités La série Grandes Personnalités de la collection « 50MINUTES » présente plus de cinquante hommes et femmes qui ont marqué l'histoire d'une manière ou d'une autre. Chaque livre a été pensé pour les lecteurs curieux qui veulent faire le tour d'un sujet précis, tout en allant à l'essentiel, et ce en moins d'une heure. Nos auteurs combinent les faits historiques, les analyses et les nouvelles perspectives pour rendre accessibles des siècles d'histoire.
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