Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order FROM THE PUBLISHER
Robert O. Paxton's study of the aftermath of France's sudden collapse under Nazi Invasion utilizes captured German archives and other contemporary materials to construct a strong and disturbing account of the Vichy period in France. With a new introduction and updated bibliography, Vichy France demonstrates that the collaborationist government of Marshal Petain did far more than merely react to German pressures. The Vichy leaders actively pursued their own double agenda - internally, the authoritarian and racist "national revolution", and, externally, an attempt to persuade Hitler to accept this new France as a partner in his new Europe.
SYNOPSIS
A strong and disturbing account of the Vichy period, demonstrating how in the interests of stability, French national feeling favored collboration with the German-controlled regime.
FROM THE CRITICS
Los Angeles Times
A work of meticulous scholarship . . . lucidly, gracefully written . . . scrupulously fair.
New York Times Book Review
Tells us as much of the truth about Vichy as we are likely to have for a long time.
Booknews
Paxton (emeritus, social sciences, Columbia U.) provides a new introduction and updated bibliography to his classic study, first published in 1972. It shows that the collaborationist government of Marshal Ptain, in the wake of the Nazi invasion, pursued its own double agenda: internally, an authoritarian and racist "national revolution," and externally, an attempt to persuade Hitler to accept the new France as a partner. Paxton sees the case of the Vichy government as more than a historic accounting; in his introduction he writes, "An American who looks honestly at collaborationist France must judge not only with sorrow and pity, but with fear at what his own countrymen might do under equivalent stress." Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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