France and the French: A Modern History

This is a book for those who are already reasonably familiar with the outlines of French history in the 20th century. For them Kedward's formidable researches (the bibliography of Selected Further Reading runs to 26 pages) will provide a mass of details not easily found elsewhere; but it seems to me that he takes quite a lot of previous knowledge for granted (one tiny example out of very many: he assumes that readers know what the Schlieffen Plan was), and even for those who do have a good general knowledge, the book is quite densely written and in places rather stodgy (in at least one chapter - chapter 7 - almost impenetrably so). Kedward's ambition is to be thoroughly comprehensive - a tall order even for 650 pages of text. The result is that often the text is studded with the names of everybody who was anybody in France, and in places it reads a bit like a catalogue. In chapter 6, for example, every artist of significance is given about a sentence or two, which serves as a reminder to those who know something of their work, but cannot really bring it to life for those who do not. The arrangement of the book is chronological, but social and economic history - worthy, but sometimes, I fear, very dull - take up much more space than political history; character sketches of leading politicians are extremely compressed - just the odd adjective or two - and so are accounts of French foreign policy, though all the main events are featured. It all makes for rather dry reading. It is, I think, much more difficult to write the domestic history of France than, say, the domestic history of Britain during the same period - largely because of the multiplicity of French political parties, the constantly shifting coalitions and the resulting short-lived nature of the governments of the Third and Fourth Republic. The governments of the Fifth Republic were somewhat more stable, but even then there are more parties, more shifting political groupings and more complications than we have in British history - not to mention three periods when powerful presidents have to cohabit with prime ministers and legislatures which are opposed to them. Kedward also makes it clear that the social structure of France is exceptionally complex, for not only is there the divide between Paris and the countryside, but the countryside is by no means homogeneous: rural areas vary enormously from left to right. It is helpful that the book is very well organized, with frequent cross-headings; and it seems to me that the texture lightens somewhat from Chapter 10 - about a third of the way through - onwards. For myself, I would single out the following as particularly valuable discussions: - The role of women is given much attention throughout. - There is an excellent account of the French resistance and of how it was interpreted after the war. One would expect no less from one of the leading historians of that topic. - Kedward's anger about the folly and viciousness o

Everyone tries to explain France, from those who know it well and often travel there to those who have only read about French attitudes and history. Any who would understand the puzzling nature of the French psyche, though, must understand its history and culture - and that's where the weighty and well-researched FRANCE AND THE FRENCH: A MODERN HISTORY comes in. Kedward explores French history using a lively narrative style to bring its majors modern influencing events to life. Chapters draw some important connections between these events and French attitudes, surveying those who confronted and created the military, political and social changes in the country during modern times. A definitive survey pairs history with social insights for maximum impact.