Books by Robert Gildea

Robert Gildea s penetrating history of France during World War II sweeps aside the French Resistance of a thousand cliches. Gaining a true understanding of the Resistance means recognizing how its image has been carefully curated through a combination of French politics and pride, ever since jubilant crowds celebrated Paris s liberation in 1944."

This text considers the nature of French history and the awareness of its influence, surveying the ways that various political communities in France during the past two centuries have used different versions of the past in order to define their identities and legitimize their goals.

Nineteenth-century France was one of the world's great cultural beacons, renowned for its dazzling literature, philosophy, art, poetry and technology. Yet this was also a tumultuous century of political anarchy and bloodshed, where each generation of the French Revolution's 'children' would experience their own wars, revolutions and terrors. From soldiers to priests, from peasants to Communards, from feminists to literary figures such as Victor Hugo and Honor de Balzac, Robert Gildea's brilliant new history explores every aspect of these rapidly changing times, and the people who lived through them.

The period 1870-1914 saw the consolidation of republican government and recovery of national self-confidence in France, establishing firm parliamentary rule and building up an empire. This text offers an introduction to the period and incorporates recent research.