In a radical, iconoclastic reexamination of one of the bloodiest battles of World War I, the author of Occupation: The Ordeal of France 1940-1944 sheds new light on the devastating engagement, its impact on the soldiers who fought, and its long-term implications for the history of the twentieth cent[...]
Defeat in 1940 left the French so chastened and demoralized that they readily supported the Vichy regime, committed not just to pragmatic collaboration but to finding scapegoats for the nation's disgrace - from Jews to school teachers and freemasons. This is a history of this time.[...]