The Last Great Frenchman: A Life of General De Gaulle / Edition 1

by Charles Williams

Overview

Critical acclaim for The Last Great Frenchman

"This is a splendid popular biography . . . recounted with verveand anecdotal warmth, along with fresh appraisals of de Gaulle'scareer as soldier, politician, and head of state." —PublishersWeekly.

"Highly readable. . . . It is to Williams' credit that he is ableto get so close to such a prickly personality." —San FranciscoChronicle

"Charles Williams has matched a great subject by something near toa great book." —Daily Telegraph (London)

"Marvelous vignettes. . . . Williams tells his story with pace andskill." —Martin Gilbert

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780471117117
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	03/20/1995
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	576
Product dimensions:	6.46(w) x 9.57(h) x 1.65(d)

About the Author

CHARLES WILLIAMS (Lord Williams of Elvel) is Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the British House of Lords. Before embarking on his political career he spent four years in Paris from 1966 to 1970, the last period of de Gaulle's government.

Table of Contents

Partial table of contents:

CHILD.

A Parisian Boy from Lille.

The Steps of St Ignatius.

SOLDIER.

The Army of the Republic.

A War to End Wars.

Polish Interlude.

Petain's Chicken.

A Toe in Political Waters.

The Cut of the Sickle.

Is He a New Napoleon?

EXILE.

Laying the Corner Stone.

Afric's Sunny Fountains.

Who is Fighting Whom?

The Eagle and the Bear Join the Party.

Resistance on All Fronts.

Mediterranean Storms.

The Darlan Deal.

From Anfa to Algiers.

Waiting for Overlord.

HERO.

A Parisian Summer.

Government Must Govern.

POLITICIAN.

With Peace Comes Politics.

The Gamble that Failed.

PHILOSOPHER.

A Certain Idea of France.

On Public and Private Life.

HEAD OF STATE.

The New Agenda.

Baiting Uncle Sam.

The Ides of May.

Epilogue: Return to Colombey.

Notes.

Select Bibliography.

Acknowledgements.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

Williams, deputy leader of the opposition in the British House of Lords, tells the story in English of an emphatically French life, and he fully engages the reader. "Ramrod" and "Wormwood" were code names the British "maliciously but accurately" applied to the leader of the Free French; and their wartime ally, American President FDR, detested De Gaulle. This biography explains well French foreign policy toward the "Anglo-Saxons" during the French Fifth Republic. Although admiring De Gaulle's tenacity and strength, the author does not hide what he considers the unattractive side of the general's aloof grandeur and verbal combativeness, and he terms the way De Gaulle came to power in 1958 nearly Napoleonic. De Gaulle in private was more appealing, according to Williams; he is said to have been extraordinarily fond of his retarded daughter. The only thing lacking here is an explanation of the Vichy regime; however, names are helpfully annotated. Recommended for all libraries.-R. James Tobin, Univ. of Wisconsin Lib., Milwaukee

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