The Speeches Of General De Gaulle

This is the first book to combine a comprehensive historical analysis of Charles de Gaulle and Gaullism with a selection of related documents. In a compelling narrative, Cogan examines the three major stages of de Gaulle's career, he also assesses the Gaullist movement and its legacy for France, for Europe, and for transatlantic relations. A collection of 25 primary sources - many of which have never before been published in English - allows a firsthand reading and analysis of an array of government documents, interviews, press conferences, and excerpts from de Gaulle's memoirs and speeches. Maps and photographs throughout, a headnote for each document, a chronology, questions for consideration, and suggestions for further reading help make this book a fascinating resource.

A SUNDAY TIMES, THE TIMES, DAILY TELEGRAPH, NEW STATESMAN, SPECTATOR, FINANCIAL TIMES, TLS BOOK OF THE YEAR 'Masterly ... awesome reading ... an outstanding biography' Max Hastings, Sunday Times The definitive biography 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.

This biography of the former president of France describes his life and career fighting for the country that he loved, in the trenches of World War I, against the Nazi threat in World War II and during a decolonization war in Algeria. Original. 10,000 first printing.

A magisterial biography of one of the great leaders of the 20th century. Due to be published to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the famous speech De Gaulle made to the Free French Forces. Much will be made of this occasion, including a visit from Sarkozy to London.

This is the biography of General Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970), President of the Fifth Republic of France. A product of Northern French provincial society of the 19th century - austere, catholic and nationalist - de Gaulle was, according to Williams, the last great Frenchman. Whatever the arguments concerning de Gaulle's legacy, in his single-minded devotion to his country, and in his skill and strength in pushing it, there would have been no France if there had been no de Gaulle.

At a crucial moment in the Second World War, an obscure French general reaches a fateful personal decision: to fight on alone after his government’s flight from Paris and its capitulation to Nazi Germany. Amid the ravages of a world war, three men — a general, a president, and a prime minister — are locked in a rivalry that threatens their partnership and puts the world’s most celebrated city at risk of destruction before it can be liberated. This is the setting of The Paris Game, a dramatic recounting of how an obscure French general under sentence of death by his government launches on the most enormous gamble of his life: to fight on alone after his country’s capitulation to Nazi Germany. In a game of intrigue and double-dealing, Charles de Gaulle must struggle to retain the loyalty of Winston Churchill against the unforgiving opposition of Franklin Roosevelt and the traitorous manoeuvring of a collaborationist Vichy France. How he succeeds in restoring the honour of France and securing its place as a world power is the stuff of raw history, both stirring and engrossing.

This book explores Charles De Gaulle's use and strict control of television between 1958 and 1969, highlighting the association between charismatic power and television with regards to legitimizing the Gaullist leadership and determining an evolution towards presidentialism during the Fifth Republic. A protagonist of European political history of the twentieth century, Charles de Gaulle was a pioneer in the use of mass media: in the Second World War he had earned the nickname of Général-micro due to his reliance on radio communication; in 1958 he then started an substantive and fruitful use of television, which some of his opponents labelled as ‘telecracy’. From difficult beginnings, where he followed the advice of publicity and communication experts, through his masterful TV appearances during the dramatic moments of the Algerian War, to the presidential campaign of 1965 and the crisis of May 1968, the author paints a compelling fresco of de Gaulle as the first TV leader in contemporary European history. The book will appeal to students and scholars interested in the fields of French politics, political communication and political leadership.