When Fran ois Mitterand was elected President in 1981, bringing the Socialist Party to power for the first time in decades, two hundred thousand voters danced around the Bastille. But their euphoria was short lived, and by 1986 the conservatives--led by Chirac, Barre, and Giscard d'Estaing--had regained control of the Parliament. What led to the collapse of socialism in France? Was the approach taken by Mitterand at fault, or was socialism doomed...