De Gaulle

"Savior of his nation in war; bold man of letters; patriot; a statesman who achieved reality for his political vision by the overwhelming force of his will: the personality that emerges in Jean Lacouture's magnificent biography of Charles de Gaulle seems larger than life, a presence of mythic proportions. The story begins with de Gaulle's childhood in Lille and follows him through his heroic experiences in World War I and his swift rise to prominence in the French army, to that great moment of triumph, the liberation of Paris in August 1944. Perceptions of the private de Gaulle - the schoolboy, the father - are woven into this politically astute account of a career grounded in controversy. The unorthodox, if brilliant, workings of his mind, coupled with his unbending formality and an unwillingness to compromise, often isolated de Gaulle from his contemporaries. At many points we see him standing alone, as in his insistence on armored divisions to support the Maginot line before World War II, or in his declaration of a Free France in defiance of the Vichy government, or in the passionate disagreements with Churchill and Roosevelt over alllied strategy. Lacouture's narrative reveals the highlights and shadows of this man obsessed with history and with his own role in the great, continuing drama of the French nation. Jean Lacouture's monumental life of Charles de Gaulle has been hailed in France as one of the supreme works of contemporary biography: a meticulous and moving record of de Gaulle's life, and a sympathetic but even-handed evaluation of a great leader and statesman. Photographs." -- Publisher.

[1] The rebel, 1890-1944 -- [2] The ruler, 1945-1970.