... by Robert Gildea
This book was recommended to me as a 'first class
treatise' on France during the occupation.
As I'm not an historian I am not really qualified to comment on the
veracity of that particular description and my review will not attempt, in any
way, to do so. But, having had the book
sold to me thus, I have to say that I am very glad I bought it and read it.
As an avid reader, a very ordinary traveller through
life and France, I am
often drawn to books about the life and times of one of my most favourite
places. The country is vast, it's
history inextricably linked with our own, the geography is varied and the
culture and customs fascinating. I am
still learning about this amazing place.
And Gildea's book has been no small part of my most recent learning.
It is a vast tome.
At over 400 pages of information and comment, supplemented by a further
90+ of appendices and detailed index, it is not a book to picked up in the hope
of an easy or quick read. That being
said, once I had accustomed myself to the style of writing and the format, I
did get through it in about 7 days as I found the content so fascinating, it
was very difficult to put it down.
Focusing on the period from June 1940 to the end of
the war, Gildea uses archive material, personal interviews, diaries and
eyewitness accounts to set out what life was like, for people across the social strata of the time, in 3 specific départements during the occupation (in
my experience now referred to by the French as les années noires). The area 'of study' that he uses stretches from the west coast
inland to just east of the tiny village of Bléré on the river
Cher and north to south from Chateaubriant to Machecoul. In terms of the geography it represents - I
would guess - between 5% and 7% of the whole country. So it is not a particularly large sample
area. However, it is an area where I
have a spent a great deal of time, with cities, towns and villages that I know
well. So, reading about the history of
that dark period, as evidenced by the seemingly vast array of records, papers and information that
Gildea examined, was a bit like discovering the difficult past of a very old friend.
 |
| Tours, a city referenced in the book |
It is clear from early on in the book that
Gildea is seeking to present a particular view of that time in history. What I can say is, that I was overwhelmed by
the breadth of evidence presented, the detail included and what I concluded was
that people, no matter what their background, were doing their best to survive in very difficult
circumstances. A society of people constantly forced to make choices, where the alternatives were frequently 'a rock' or 'a hard place'. I often found myself
wondering how I would have reacted had I been there, faced with the same
challenges and difficult choices. A
thought-provoking, and at times very moving, book that I feel has informed and helped me to a greater
level of understanding about this period in French history. And that, in no way means that I agree
wholeheartedly with all of Gildea's conclusions.
I will be visiting Tours at the end of the month. If you would like to join me, there will be more about this city's role under the occupation.
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