Julian Jackson Volgorde van de boeken

'A concise and distinguished book' Andrew Roberts.

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 It draws on a vast range of published and unpublished memoirs and documents - including the recently opened de Gaulle archives - to show how de Gaulle achieved so much during the War when his resources were so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

Jean Renoir's 1937 film La Grande Illusion is set during the First World War, but its themes of Franco-German conflict, divided loyalties in a time of war and the rise of anti-Semitism made it compelling and controversial viewing. Julian Jackson traces the film's historical context and its reception history.

Německý útok na západní frontě 10. května 1940, který vedl k pádu Francie, patří k nejdůležitějším událostem dějin 20. století. V bleskovém tažení nejprve německé armády prolomily francouzské linie a odřízly spojenecké armády na severu, potom zatlačily britskou armádu k pobřeží a přinutily ji k evakuaci od Dunkerque a nakonec rozbily zbytky francouzské armády a přinutily francouzskou vládu podepsat příměří, jež vedlo k ustavení režimu Vichy na zbytku jejího území. Kniha rozebírá politické, diplomatické a vojenské příčiny této katastrofy.

Komplexní historie Francie v období nacistické okupace za druhé světové války podává obraz života země v nejširším měřítku, všímá si nejen německé okupační politiky, kolaborace a odboje, ale i každodenního života v okupované Francii i na území spravovaném kolaborantskou vládou ve Vichy včetně kultury. Rozebírá kolaborantskou ideologii a politiku včetně jejích kořenů v období předválečném, předkládá unikátní sociální historii odboje, všímá si role cizinců, žen, Židů či rolníků. Pozornost věnuje i dědictví okupace a památce odboje v období poválečném.

The penultimate volume in the Short Oxford History of Europe series analyses a period dominated by war, economic dislocation, revolution, and counter-revolution. In a set of thematic chapters, Julian Jackson and a leading international team of historians trace the continuities of the period, as well as the major ruptures of two World Wars.