The French Republic: 1879-1992: v. 3 (History of France S.) - Tapa blanda

"One hundred years in five hundred luminous pages. With limpid prose and balanced judgement, Maurice Agulhon has written a synthesis in the form of a story." Le Figaro Litteraire "One of the few books that one instantly recognises as a classic." Le Point "A wonderfully vivid, lucid and comprehensive history of France's turbulent Third, Fourth and Fifth Republics. Agulhon, the distinguished scholar of French Republicanism, focuses on political issues and cleavages, with a unique mix of Olympian mastery and controlled passionate involvement." Stanley Hoffman, Douglas Dillon Professor of the Civilization of France, Harvard University "The narrative is masterly, relating complex developments in a lucid and balanced way. A detailed chronology adds to its value as a standard work." Times Higher Education Supplement "It is that rare textbook that is valuable both to novices and to scholars. Agulhon eloquently traces the origins of the modern Republic, pausing at each stage to survey the recent historical literature. As a text it is wonderful: thorough, intelligent, and beautifully illustrated, with two comprehensive chronologies in the appendix." Choice

Winner of the Gobert Prize of the Academie Francaise, this book is a history of modern France. It opens with the impassioned years following the establishment of the Republic, and the introduction of democratic values and civil freedoms. It describes the Belle Epoque, its wholesale destruction during World War I, the disillusionment of the 1920s and 1930s, followed by the fall of France to Germany in 1940. In his account of the Occupation and the Vichy regime, the author examines dispassionately the vexed question of collaboration, guilt and resistance. The final part of the book tells of the mixed fortunes of the Fourth Republic, the triumphant return of De Gaulle, the accelerating process of decolonization and the near-revolution in 1968. It describes the role of France in the European Community, the growth of the economy under Giscard and Mitterand and recent signs of discord among its varied cultures and peoples.