"A refreshing and tightly written introduction to France's recent history."Arthur Asseraf, University of Cambridge"In this highly polished introduction to contemporary France, Chabal combines a keen eye for detail with an admirable capacity for vivid narration and analytical generalisation. His focus on France's modern paradoxes offers a stimulating and enjoyable point of entry into the ongoing fractures of its contemporary social and political life."Sudhir Hazareesingh, Oxford University"This superb analysis of how France's current struggles--over diversity, state authority, the EU, and much else--emerged from its history since 1940 will enthrall newcomers to the subject and experts alike. A major achievement."Herrick Chapman, New York University"Superb... upon finishing Chabal's France one comes away feeling that few authors could have compressed more pertinent discussion into so few pages. It is a truly remarkable book."Art Goldhammer, Tocqueville 21"Emile Chabal's text has the great benefit of clarifying and offering up new perspectives on familiar issues... [his] reading of some of the questions posed to and by the French people is particularly stimulating in the way that it highlights the gap between a republican language that saturates the public sphere, and the political and social dynamics that have repeatedly forced it to adapt."Emmanuel Jousse, Tocqueville 21"The reader would be hard pressed to find a better introduction and guide to contemporary France."History: Review of New Books"The reader will finish this synthetic, concise, and theoretically rich book armed with a narrative of French history since 1940, with an excellent list for further reading, with a snapshot of current debates in French studies and, perhaps most important, with a method to explore and explain events in France's past, present, and future."Evan Spritzer, Modern & Contemporary France"[D]eceptively easy to read and it makes difficult concepts accessible."Minayo Nasiali, Modern & Contemporary France"[A] remarkable feat.... For those readers with little or no knowledge of modern and contemporary France, the book will provide an earnest and critical overview; for more knowledgeable readers there is still much to be gained from examining the multiple contradictions inherent in French society."David Lees, Modern & Contemporary France
AcknowledgementsMapsChronologyIntroduction: A paradoxical nation1. Defeat and resistance2. Colonialism and anti-colonialism3. Grandeur and decline4. Left and right5. The Republic and its discontents6. Local citizens in a global stateConclusion: An uncertain futureFurther readingIndex
Emile Chabal is a Reader in History at the University of Edinburgh. He is one of the foremost experts on twentieth-century French political and intellectual history. He has published widely on topics such as French republicanism, secularism, the legacies of empire, identity politics and Franco-British relations, including a groundbreaking study of French politics entitled A Divided Republic: nation, state and citizenship in contemporary France.