Britain and France in Two World Wars Truth, Myth and Memory [Hardcover]

France and Britain, indispensable allies in two world wars, remember and forget their shared history in contrasting ways. The book will examine key episodes in the relationship between the two countries, including the outbreak of war in 1914, the battles of the Somme and Verdun, the Fall of France in 1940, Dunkirk, and British involvement in the French Resistance and the 1944 Liberation. The contributors discuss how the two countries tend to forget what they owe to each other, and have a distorted view of history which still colours and prejudices their relationship today, despite government efforts to build a close political and military partnership.

General Introduction:Robert Tombs\Part I - The First World War\ Introduction:Gary Sheffield\ 1. Why Allies: necessity or folly?John Keiger\ 2. Sacrifice and slaughter: two armies, two wars?William Philpott\ 3. The push to victory, 1918: the Allied contributions,Elizabeth Greenhalgh\Part II - The Second World War\ Introduction:Emile ChabalandAkhila Yechury\ 4. 1940: the French army and the BEF,Martin Alexander\ 5. The British, the Free French, and Resistance,Sebastien Albertelli\ 6. Liberation: the British contribution,Olivier Wieviorka\Part III - Remembering and Forgetting\ Introduction:Philip Bell\ 7. The First World War,Jay Winter\ 8. The Second World War,Robert Frank\ 9. An overview,David Reynolds\ Index

This collection examines relations between France and Britain, in particular their conflicting memories of key episodes in their recent past.

Robert Tombs is Professor of French History at the University of Cl#Ÿ