The Unfree French: Life Under the Occupation
- ISBN-10
- 0300126018
- ISBN-13
- 9780300126013
- Category
- History
- Pages
- 500
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2006-01-01
- Publisher
- Yale University Press
- Author
- Richard Vinen
Description
The swift and unexpected defeat of the French Army in 1940 shocked the nation. Two million soldiers were taken prisoner, six million civilians fled from the German army’s advance to join convoys of confused and terrified refugees, and only a few managed to escape the country. The vast majority of French people were condemned to years of subjugation under Nazi and Vichy rule. This compelling book investigates the impact of the occupation on the people of France and dispels any lingering notion that somehow, under the collaborating government of Marshal Pétain, life was quite tolerable for most French citizens. Richard Vinen describes the inescapable fear and the moral quandaries that permeated life in German-controlled France. Focusing on the experiences of the least privileged, he shows how chronic shortages, desperate compromises, fear of displacement, racism, and sadistic violence defined their lives. Virtually all adult males festered in POW camps or were sent to work in the Reich. With numerous enthralling anecdotes and a variety of maps and evocative photographs, The Unfree French makes it possible for the first time to understand how average people in France really lived from 1940 to 1945, why their experiences differed from region to region and among various groups, and why they made the choices they did during the occupation.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
France Free and Unfree: The Literary and Sociological Image : Essays
By William CrawFrance Free and Unfree: The Literary and Sociological Image : Essays
-
National Service: A Generation in Uniform 1945-1963
By Richard VinenBut without a proper understanding of National Service the story of post-war Britain barely makes sense. Richard Vinen provides that missing book.
-
France in the Second World War: Collaboration, Resistance, Holocaust, Empire
By Chris MillingtonIn addition, Millington provides a helpful glossary of terms, personalities and movements from the period and an annotated bibliography of English-language sources to guide students to the most relevant works in the area.
-
1968: Radical Protest and Its Enemies
By Richard VinenRichard Vinen pursues the story into the 1970s to show both the ever more violent forms of radicalization that arose from 1968 and the brutal reactions from those in power that brought the era to an end.
-
Thatcher's Britain: The Politics and Social Upheaval of the Thatcher Era
By Richard VinenThatcher's Britaintells the story of Thatcherism for a generation with no personal memories of the 80s, as well as for those who want to revisit the polemics of their youth.
-
Slavery's Metropolis: Unfree Labor in New Orleans during the Age of Revolutions
By Rashauna JohnsonSlavery's Metropolis uses slave circulations through New Orleans between 1791 and 1825 to map the social and cultural history of enslaved men and women and the rapidly shifting city, nation, and world in which they lived.
-
Unfree Markets: The Slaves' Economy and the Rise of Capitalism in South Carolina
By Justene Hill EdwardsJustene Hill Edwards illuminates the inner workings of the slaves’ economy and the strategies that enslaved people used to participate in the market.
-
A History In Fragments: Europe in the Twentieth Century
By Richard VinenThe problem with the history of twentieth-century Europe is that everyone thinks they know it. The great stories of the century - the two world wars, the rise and fall...
-
Inside the Mind of Marine Le Pen
By Michel EltchaninoffWhat is the core ideology of France's Front national?
-
Unfree Masters: Popular Music and the Politics of Work
By Matt StahlEliot, Rockonomics, 198. Quoted in Denisoff, Tarnished Gold, 146. Quoted in ibid. Eliot, Rockonomics, 198. Garofalo, “From Music Publishing to mp3,” 343. Robert Christgau, “Rock 'n' Roller Coaster: The Music Biz on a Joyride,” Village ...