Occupation: The Ordeal of France 1940-1944 [Paperback]

France was slow and somewhat ineffectual in organizing resistance movement. InOccupationIan Ousby challenges the myth that France was liberated by the whole of France. The author explores the Nazi occupation of France with superb detail and eyewitness accounts that range from famous figures like Simone de Beauvoir, Charles de Gaulle, Andre Gide, Jean-Paul Sartre and Gertrude Stein to ordinary citizens, forgotten heroes and traitors.Unflinching.A well-written, carefully researched, often fascinating story.[A] lively history of the Occupation in its various aspects—social, cultural, political, and military....[A] riveting and highly readable narrative.The German occupation of France during World War II is considered one of the most shameful episodes of modern history....Well researched without being scholarly,Occupationis highly perceptive in its analysis of France's political convulsions and major Vichy figures.