De Gaulle / A Life

Winner of the Duff Cooper PrizeWinner of the Elizabeth Longford PrizeA New Yorker, Financial Times, Spectator, Times, and Telegraph Book of the YearIn this definitive biography of the mythic general who refused to accept the Nazi domination of France, Julian Jackson captures Charles de Gaulle as never before. Drawing on unpublished letters, memoirs, and papers from the recently opened de Gaulle archive, he shows how this volatile visionary of staunch faith and conservative beliefs infuriated Churchill, challenged American hegemony, recognized the limitations of colonial ambitions in Algeria and Vietnam, and put a broken France back at the center of world affairs.“With a fluent style and near-total command of existing and newly available sources...Julian Jackson has come closer than anyone before him to demystifying this conservative at war with the status quo, for whom national interests were inseparable from personal honor.”—Richard Norton Smith, Wall Street Journal“A sweeping-yet-concise introduction to the most brilliant, infuriating, and ineffably French of men.”—Ross Douthat, New York Times“Classically composed and authoritative...Jackson writes wonderful political history.”—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker“A remarkable book in which the man widely chosen as the Greatest Frenchman is dissected, intelligently and lucidly, then put together again in an extraordinary fair-minded, highly readable portrait. Throughout, the book tells a thrilling story.”—Antonia Fraser, New Statesman“Makes awesome reading, and is a tribute to the fascination of its subject, and to Jackson's mastery of it...A triumph, and hugely readable.”—Max Hastings, Sunday Times A Definitive Biography Of The Mythic General Who Refused To Accept The Nazi Domination Of France, Drawing On Unpublished Letters, Memoirs, And Papers In The Newly Opened De Gaulle Archives That Show How This Volatile Man Put A Broken France Back At The Center Of World Affairs. In The Early Summer Of 1940, When France Was Overrun By German Troops, One Junior General Who Had Fought In The Trenches In Verdun Refused To Accept Defeat. He Fled To London, Where He Took To The Radio To Address His Compatriots Back Home. Whatever Happens, He Said, The Flame Of French Resistance Must Not Be Extinguished And Will Not Be Extinguished. At That Moment, Charles De Gaulle Entered History. For The Rest Of The War, De Gaulle Insisted He And His Free French Movement Were The True Embodiment Of France. Sometimes Aloof But Confident In His Leadership, He Quarreled Violently With Churchill And Roosevelt. Through Sheer Force Of Personality He Inspired French Men And Women To Risk Their Lives To Resist The Nazi Occupation. Thanks To De Gaulle, France Was Recognized As One Of The Victorious Allies When Germany Was Finally Defeated. Then, As President Of The Fifth Republic, De Gaulle Brought France To The Brink Of A Civil War Over His Controversial Decision To Pull Out Of Algeria. Julian Jackson's Landmark Biography, The First Major Reconsideration In Over Twenty Years, Captures This Titanic Figure As Never Before.-- Part One. De Gaulle Before 'de Gaulle', 1890-1940: Beginnings, 1890-1908 -- War: 'a Regret That Will Never Leave Me', 1908-1918 -- Rebuilding A Career, 1919-1932 -- Making A Mark, 1932-1939 -- The Battle Of France, September 1939-june 1940 -- Part Two. Exile, 1940-1944: Rebellion, 1940 -- Survival, 1941 -- Inventing Gaullism -- On The World Stage, September 1941-june 1942 -- Fighting France, July-october 1942 -- Power Struggles, November 1942-november 1943 -- Building A State In Exile, July 1943-may 1944 -- Liberation, June-august 1944 -- Part Three. In And Out Of Power, 1944-1958: In Power, August 1944-may 1945 -- From Liberator To Saviour, May 1945-december 1946 -- The New Messiah, 1947-1955 -- In The 'desert', 1955-1958 -- The 18 Brumaire Of Charles De Gaulle, February-june 1958 -- President Du Conseil, June-december 1958 -- Part Four. Republican Monarch, 1959-1965: Algeria: 'this Affair Which Absorbs And Paralyses Us', 1959-1962 -- Turning Point, 1962 -- The Pursuit Of Grandeur, 1958-1963 -- Going Global, 1963-1964 -- Modernizing Monarch, 1958-1964 -- Half-time, 1965 -- Part Five. Towards The End, 1966-1970: Upsetting The Applecart, 1966-1967 -- Diminishing Returns -- Revolution, 1968 -- The End, June 1968-november 1970 -- Myth, Legacy And Achievement. Julian Jackson. Simultaneously Published In The United Kingdom As A Certain Idea Of France: The Life Of Charles De Gaulle. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.