France 1940
Defending the Republic
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
France 1940
Buy Now for £11.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Sean Runnette
-
By:
-
Philip Nord
About this listen
In this revisionist account of France's crushing defeat in 1940, Philip Nord argues that the nation's downfall has long been misunderstood. Nord assesses France's diplomatic and military preparations for war with Germany, its conduct of the war once the fighting began, and the political consequences of defeat on the battlefield. Ultimately, he finds that the longstanding view that France's collapse was due to military unpreparedness and a decadent national character is unsupported by fact.
Nord reveals that the Third Republic was no worse prepared and its military failings no less dramatic than those of the United States and other Allies in the early years of the war. What was unique in France was the betrayal by military and political elites who abandoned the Republic and supported the reprehensible Vichy takeover. Why then have historians and politicians ever since interpreted the defeat as a judgment on the nation as a whole? Why has the focus been on the failings of the Third Republic and not on elite betrayal? The author examines these questions in a fascinating conclusion.
©2015 Philip Nord (P)2015 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
Very well written and narrated
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The course of military events is however, dealt with quite briefly in favor of the subject that is obviously the author's real interest - the maneuverings in French politics immediately following the defeat, that resulted in the abolition of the 3rd Republic and establishment of the Vichy regime. The book isn't really about "Defending the Republic", but about the political actors (a strange alliance of appeasers, pacifists and generals) who abolished it for their own reasons.
It's a compelling story, that is often neglected in English language histories, and I enjoyed hearing it. But I would have preferred a longer and more comprehensive work that did not skip over so much ground.
The narrator isn't terrible, but I found him a little slow and monotone.
Good book, somewhat misleading subtitle.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.