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Contemporary France is a handbook covering most of the major features of French politics and society. The book is up-to-date, exploring the latest political and social developments and trends while at the same time placing them in a deeper historical, intellectual, cultural and social context that makes for insightful analysis. ... Read more

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Wonderfully readable survey of French political life
Excellent coverage of French politics, policy-making and intellectual life. ... Read more

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France between the two World Wars was pervaded by representations of its own colonial power, expressed forcefully in the human displays at the expositions coloniales, films starring Josephine Baker, and the short stories of Paul Morand, and more subtly in the avant-garde writings of Ren Crevel and Raymond Roussel. In her lively book, Elizabeth Ezra interprets a fascinating array of cultural products to uncover what she terms the "colonial unconscious" of the Jazz Age--the simultaneous attraction and repulsion of exoticism and the double bind of a colonial discourse that foreclosed the possibility of the very assimilation it invited.

Ezra situates the apotheosis of French colonialism in relation to both the internal tensions of the colonial project and the competing imperialisms ofGreat Britain and the United States. Examining both the uses and the limits of psychoanalytic theories of empire, she proposes a reading of French colonialism which, while historically specific, also contributes to our understanding of contemporary culture. The enduring legacy of empire is felt to this day, as Ezra demonstrates in a provocative epilogue on the remarkable similarities between the rhetoric of colonial France and accounts of the French victory in the 1998 World Cup. ... Read more

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Robert O. Paxton´s classic 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 Pétain 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. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Path-breaking
This book was such an important text in its field that I feel it deserves five stars even though I disagree with some of its findings. The French talk of a 'Paxtonian Revolution' to describe the effect this book had on the historiography. Along with Eberhard Jackel's work, Paxton suggested that collaboration was not something which was imposed on the French by the Germans but rather something which the French government actively sought as a means of promoting their own internal political agenda and of finding a privileged place in the Nazi new order. This flew in the face of the work of previous historians who had insisted that collaboration was imposed on an unwilling French government. Paxton's ideas on this have now established themselves as orthodoxy in the field. That historians are still obliged to quote Paxton 40 years on shows what a seminal text this was. The part of the book which failed to stick in the long run is the section which deals with public opinion. He sees public opinion as broadly supporting Vichy and collaboration. No serious analysis of the archives on this question could support such an analysis.

Vichy France
The history is good but hard to read without insights into the people and the aftermate after the war.

Landmark Work
Robert Paxton is the supreme authority on the Vichy regime. This, his seminal work, was originally published in the 1970s and has been updated with a new preface. Despite the availability of additional data, the book stands with very few qualifications as originally written. Vichy, despite the claims of it's many apologists, neither protected nor served France and the French, with the exception of various professional elites, who seamlessly transitioned from Petain's regime to the Fourth Republic and, in some instances, to the Fifth. Petain and his confreres met little, if any, indigenous resistance because virtually all Frenchmen were disgusted with the Third Republic and craved a more ordered and traditional form of government, an authoritarian one, in a word. Petain was happy to oblige, basing the regime on the assumptions that the war would be short, Germany would be victorious, the (despised) British holdouts would soon be defeated and, most importantly, domestic revolution would be avoided. This last point cannot be overestimated in the conservative, Catholic society of mid-century France. The leftist riots of February 6, 1934 left an indelible impression which Vichy could and did use to telling effect. It should be recalled that de Gaulle stood virtually alone. Most Frenchmen, especially those in military and government service chose to support the regime, even to the point of fighting the British in North Africa, not only in relatively well-known engagements at Mers el Kabir, but also in Syria and domestically in Dieppe. Vichy mostly hoped to achieve parity with Nazi allies in a German-dominated post-war Europe, also hoping to retain their colonial empire under exclusive French administration. Paxton recalls all these details and plenty more, along with a welter of statistical detail which somewhat slows the narrative. Even so, the work is exceptional and a classic of the historian's art.

The French Quest for Collaboration
I used this book as the main source for a term paper I recently wrote on Vichy France. Although it is now a bit dated-it was originally published in 1972-it was a groundbreaking work when it was first published. With this work, Mr. Paxton destroyed the myth of the massive French Resistance to the Germans that was propagated for many years after the war, mostly by the French themselves. He thoroughly describes how it was France, not Germany, who sought greater collaboration between the two countries, and that many more Frenchmen than would like to admit wholeheartedly embraced the new fascist policies. And while of course there was a genuine resistance movement, Paxton sees the post-war witch hunt of "collaborationists" as basically a persecution of the guilty by the guilty. To this day, Vichy is still a touchy subject for Frenchmen and Paxton brilliantly exposes exactly why that is. This is an extremely well-written and comprehensive work on Vichy France and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

An unfair book for France
While « Anatomy of Fascism » is a well balanced and very interesting book, « France's Vichy » ignores the context of France in 1940. The book is unfair to France and eventually very wrong.

- First of all, one must remember that France desperately attempted to establish PEACE in Europe after WWI. France had been alone to stop Germany in 1914, the English not yet in the war, and in 1920 it was exhausted. The only thing France wanted was PEACE. (Aristide Briand received the NOBEL Price). It begged the US and UK to guaranty its borders against Germany. But the US walked away from the committment Wilson had made to France in 1919... In fact what happened is that both the US and UK supported Hitler's Germany in the thirties against France to the extent that Churchill was the lonely voice warning of the "awful danger" of "perpetually asking the French to weaken themselves". It can be said thatthe Anglo-Saxons' Francophobia was a defining factor in letting Hitler establish power. Not only it was a disaster for France, the world but also the Jews.

- Secondly to accuse France of rampant antisemitism is just not true. There was antisemitism, especially among the elite, but it was not expressed in the laws. France was the only country in the world to keep its borders open to all the refugees from Germany and Eastern Europe. They all came to France. And the Prime Minister of France in 1936 was Leon Blum, a very remarkable Jew. When is America going to vote for a Jewish President? So before 1939, France's behavior towards the Jews was one of the most friendly in the world. The US closed their borders and showed no pity. America had the land and more to welcome the Jews. In fact, a coordinated effort by the Anglo-Saxon world - US, UK, Canada & Australia - plus France,would have saved the Jews from Hitler !

- Thirdly, France was badly defeated in 1940. How could it be otherwise? France was not strong enough to resist Germany alone. And France was alone, the US having run away after leaving a mess in Europe in 1919, plus forcing France to weaken itself, and the UK, as usual, had no army and also very quickly run away... Dunkirk!

When France was badly defeated, and it was, everybody trying to escape from the German advance, documents show that Laval "forced" parliament to give all the powers to PETAIN. It was "a coup", not something which happened in normal circumstances. And PETAIN was an antisemite, the people around him also. In time of a major upheaval/disaster, a senile man and bad people took power. The French never voted for them. But again, the French disaster was the result of American policies in the thirties.

It is in this context that the Jews in France suddenly faced an hostile administration. Nobody in France can be proud of what happened. People who had come to France trusting the French tradition of hospitality, were betrayed. There is little excuse for such letdown though many French people did their best to help.

Quite rightly Paxton is critical of the French elite. No quarrel with that but it was a worldwide phenomenon. Just to give a personal example: my father, after the war, went to America on a business trip. He was a guest of a fancy Oyster Bay Golf Club and he invited Miss Rothschild, a first class French golfer to join him. The third time he took her there he was told that he was welcome but not the Jewish woman... and this happened after the war!

A lot more can be said. In the last fifty years, America kept alive its love for dictators with appaling results : Chiang Kai-Shek, Pahlevi, Marcos, Pinochet and above all Stalin to whom Roosevelt gave Eastern Europe....

Etc... I am not an historian. But I would like to see the rightful and arrogant America apologize to the Jews, as Chirac and France did. May be, to achieve this result, Mr. Paxtonneeds to write a book : "American anti-semitism in the 20th century and its consequences". France is the wrong fight, America is a better one, the real one is the top of the Catholic church: the pope.
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The Access to History series is the most popular and trusted series for AS and A level history students. The new editions combine all the strengths of this well-loved series with a new design and features that allow all students access to the content and study skills needed to achieve exam success.

This is a new edition of 'France in Revolution' and has been fully updated and extended to cover the 2008 AS and A2 specifications for all examination boards. This title charts the long- and short-term causes of the French Revolution, the political, social and economic impact of the Revolution itself and the establishment of the Terror.

There is also an additional chapter on Napoleonic rule in France from 1799-1815. Throughout the book key dates, terms and issues are highlighted, and historical interpretations of key debates are outlined. Summary diagrams are included to consolidate knowledge and understanding of the period, and exam-style questions and tips written by examiners for each examination board provide the opportunity to develop exam skills.

Revised edition for the requirements of the 2008 AS and A2 specifications Study guides written by examiners contain exercises and advice on tackling differentiated exam questions for AS and A Level. Contains the latest historical interpretations of themes and issues. Features include: points to consider, key issues and key dates. Features such as key definitions and questions to aid learning. More support with assessment and exam skills. Designed to allow greater accessibility to a wide range of AS and A2 students. ... Read more

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This book argues that although labor market needs have been an important element in the development of immigration policy, they have been filtered through a political process: the politics of immigration. It is this process that drives immigration policy in each country.By exploring the relation between policy and politics in France, the UK, and the US, three countries that have both welcomed and severely restricted immigrant entry during different periods, this book helps to show how this goes far beyond labor market needs.Cross-nationally, these policies have been influenced by considerations of race, domestic ideas of what constitutes national identity, citizenship, naturalization, urban policy, housing, and education.
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What shape and content have French environmental policies taken? What are the shaping factors at national and European levels which have produced a particular style and configuration of policy? Drawing on an extensive range of political, legal and sociological materials, the author presents and evaluates environmental policy-making in France at a time when environmental problems are growing in complexity and gravity. This study highlights the range of inputs to the policy process - including popular movements, green parties, interest group representation, EU legislation and international treaties - and evaluates the diverse nature of the outcomes. The book argues that current environmental issues pose new challenges to the French style of governance. Its preference for technocratic proficiency over grass-roots involvement proved workable in the 1970s and 1980s when the environmental agenda was largely framed in terms of pollution control, but is proving less apposite given the new stress on sustainable development, with its implications for lifestyle change.Because new developments involve not only changes in policy-content but also adaptation of policy style, environmental demands are progressively changing the shape of politics itself. ... Read more

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`Ongaro has made a major contribution to understanding the political and adminstrative systems of Southern Europe. The work goes beyond that, however, by providing an excellent example of comparative analysis in general. This book should be read by all students of comparativeadministration.'
- B. Guy Peters, University of Pittsburgh, US and City University of Hong Kong

`This is an important book for several reasons. Public sector reform debates and policies have been heavily - perhaps too heavily - influenced by Anglo-Saxon models, and literature on reforms in the Latin part of Europe has, until now, only been available in a fragmented way. However, this unique new book offers a coherent vision across Southern Europe. It refers to important parts of our history and how these still influence current times. It also shows that culture does make a difference, and that contingencies are important. European public sector reform is as diverse as the range of its administrative histories, and this book is therefore crucial in our understanding of the future in relation to the past.'
- Geert Bouckaert, Public Management Institute, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, and European Group for Public Administration

`This systematic, thorough and insightful book offers one of the very rare comparative studies of public management reform in Italy, France, Greece, Portugal and Spain. A unique and most valuable study.'
- Walter Kickert, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands

`Scholars of public management reform have been at it for many years but there was always a gap - little was really known about southern Europe, those countries that come from the Napoleonic tradition. Now, Professor Edoardo Ongaro of Bocconi University has filled that gap, and we will all profit from his diligent and insightful work.'
- Jeffrey D. Straussman, Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, University at Albany, US

`Theoretically eclectic and empirically rich, this is a much-needed volume on the dark side of the moon, that is, public management reform outside the Anglo-Saxon world. Edoardo Ongaro sheds light on Italy and four other Napoleonic systems by producing a far-reaching comparative analysis that also captures the effects of Europeanization and multi-level governance on public management reforms. Ambitious yet ultimately accessible, this book is a must-read for those who want to explain and understand the trajectories of reform in their historical context.'
- Claudio Radaelli, University of Exeter, UK

`The reader will find in Professor Ongaro's book a clear and thorough discussion of the public sector reform process both in Italy and southern European countries based upon a systematic comparative framework. This is a very useful and original work that any student in comparative politics or public administration will highly appreciate.'
- Luc Rouban, CNRS, Centre de Recherches Politiques de Science Po (CEVIPOF), Paris, France

`This scholarly volume makes an interesting and distinctive contribution to the global public management reform debate by offering an analysis of reform trajectories in an important but rather neglected group of Southern European countries.'
- Ewan Ferlie, King's College London, UK

Since the 1980s, a wave of reforms of public management has swept the world. The investigation into the effects of such major transformations has, however, been unbalanced: important countries have received only limited attention. This timely book fills the gap by investigating the dynamics of contemporary public management reform in five European countries that gave shape to the Napoleonic administrative tradition - France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain.

Edoardo Ongaro presents an in-depth investigation of the reform of public management in these countries, revisiting major topics of theoretical interest in the study of public administration. He addresses key issues regarding the influence of the past on the transformation of the public sector, and the direction of reforms. The work looks both backward, to the legacy of the Napoleonic administrative tradition and the way it affected the paths of reform, and forward, exploring whether and to what extent the fascinating idea of the Neo-Weberian State is an alternative to global paradigms such as New Public Management and New Public Governance.

This unique book will prove a fascinating read for scholars in the fields of public administration, public management, government and political science. Policy-makers - and their advisors - engaged in reform of the public sector will also find this book to be of great interest. ... Read more

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This first comparative study of the political communication process in France and the United States analyzes the construction of mediated political reality in each country's 1988 presidential campaign, drawing on the expertise of scholars from both nations. Contributors discuss television news and newsmagazine coverage of the campaigns, political debates, television commercials and broadcasts, and political posters. Also assessed are the interactions between party/candidate presentations of political reality and voter interpretations of that reality. ... Read more

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In a striking new view of privitazation and the modern state, this book recounts the involvement of nonprofit organizations in the implementation of socialist policy in France during the 1980s. ... Read more

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How France Votes takes as context the presidential election of 1995, which saw the triumph of Gaullist Jacques Chirac, and the legislative elections of 1997, which saw Chirac's political defeat and the emergence of Socialist Lionel Jospin as the prime minister.How did this reversal happen, and why?

Michael S. Lewis-Beck leads a team of distiguished scholars who survey campaign issues, party strategies, constitutional rules and institutions, and the French electorate in the context of the 1995 and 1997 elections.

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The Presidency has been the principal political focus of the French Fifth Republic and the new component of French democracy. This book looks at how the Presidency has shaped political parties and party systems, as well as how they have interacted with the new institution. The Presidency has acted as a unifying force, bringing together coalitions of parties to provide a political basis for presidential power, but has also been a divisive factor. Parties draw on longstanding traditions of French political life and the Presidency can provoke destructive rivalry as well as constructive coalition-building. Presented here is a discussion of the contemporary French party system - its dynamics, successes and failures. Written in an accessible style, it is intended for students of French studies and political parties, as well as comparative politics. ... Read more

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This work addresses the full range of social and political manifestations of violence in modern France. Interdisciplinary in nature, the essays analyse topics such as early feminist theory on revolutionary violence, the rejection of the state by brigands and modern-day terrorists, the tactics of protestant groups, conflict in industrail relations, police violence, colonial repression and insurrection, racial tensions and violence, violence against women and the repsonses of the French education system to an increasingly violent society. ... Read more

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Will French mainstream political parties and republican institutions survive extreme religious and racist movements on the right and left in the future? This short political history of France since the 1960s examines the impact of student revolts, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Algerian fundamentalists, and demographic and generational changes to define critical issues at the center of political debate in France today. Political scientists, historians, scholars in French studies, business people concerned with France, and general readers will benefit from this analysis of the contemporary French political scene. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent book for students
Republican France is one of the best books I have read in my coursework in European history. The author has the knack to discuss nuances but does not lose the reader in arcane vocabulary or irrelevant theory. What a goodstudy! ... Read more

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France's political leaders have been deeply committed both to maintaining France's independence and to asserting its leadership role in Europe. The end of the Cold War, the demise of the "Europe of Yalta," as well as the unification of Germany, have forced France to rethink its European and international strategies. The purpose of this study is to analyze France's effort to redefine its role in the post-Cold War era and in an integrated Europe, and what that redefined role might mean to France, to Europe, and to the United States. In examining France's international role after the Cold War, Steven Philip Kramer seeks to answer the question, "does France still count?" ... Read more

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Drawing on surveys of citizens as well as on interviews with local leaders in France and Britain, this book looks at participation in day-to-day local politics in both countries.The work is less concerned with voting than with spheres of action--particularly the extent to which people contact their local representatives about problems, complain to officials, form groups, and protest decisions.The salient differences between the two local government systems, both of which have experienced significant changes in recent decades, is explored.A series of case studies examines levels of individual and group political participation, the mobilization of people into single issue protest groups, the links between councillors and the local electorate, and the importance of the local context to participation patterns. ... Read more