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A carregar... De Gaullepor Julian Jackson
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Adira ao LibraryThing para descobrir se irá gostar deste livro. Ainda não há conversas na Discussão sobre este livro. ספר מדהים. הספר הפוליטי הביוגרפיה הטובה ביותר שקראתי מעודי. גם בגלל הכתיבה הצלולה והמצויינת, גם בגלל גיבור הסיפור שהוא דמות מדהימה, גם בגלל התקופה שהיא תקופה מרתקת שאת חלקה לפחות כבר חוויתי בעצמי וגם בגלל שהסיפור הוא על צרפת בתקופת גדלותה. ארוך מאוד אך לא משעמם לשנייה. קראתי בתענוג רב בשעות קשות ( ) This masterpiece of biography was something of a labour of love for me. Professor Jackson's portrait of the man who believed he embodied the idea of France is enormously complex, detailed and compelling. It's also a slow read; I can't recall taking more than six months to finish a book. I learned so much about the General, in particular his prescience about the history that would follow his generation. Anyone seeking to understand the profound impact de Gaulle had on global affairs, including the current state of crisis in the 'western' world, should devour this outstanding biography. I found it interesting that there was no bibliography. Instead, Jackson innovates with an extensive 'who's who' of the characters in the book and an incredibly detailed Notes section and a minutely detailed index. Perhaps never in world history has the importance of being in the right place at the right time been more aptly expressed than when describing the career of Charles De Gaulle. Prior to reading this extensively researched and meticulously presented biography of De Gaulle, my knowledge of his career was limited to his leadership of the Free French during World War II. I was aware that he played a role in post-war French politics, but the details were sketchy. Prior to World War II, De Gaulle was a mid-level French military officer with low level political postings. His combat experience was limited, though not in any way deficient for one of his era. With the fall of France and the formation of the Vichy government however, De Gaulle found himself in London as virtually the only French government official willing to oppose the Vichy regime. Even then, his personality was so combative and abrasive, that the Allies constantly searched for someone to replace him. If there is one thing you will take away from this biography, it should be that De Gaulle was a miserable human being. He was perhaps the most egotistical man of an era that certainly had more than its share. He alienated virtually everyone that came into contact with him. It would seem that the more time you spent around him, the more you came to detest him. He was particularly unpleasant and disloyal to those who helped him the most. He was duplicitous and manipulative beyond what was required, even given some of the extreme circumstances that confronted him. Were it not for finding himself virtually alone in London, in opposition to Vichy, it is unlikely that he would have risen any further than he had prior to the war; he was that unpleasant. Given that, he played his cards well enough during the war to emerge as the singular savior to the French people, presenting himself as the modern Joan of Arc. He parlayed this unassailable popularity into a very short reign before resigning in a pique, after which, he spent the next twelve years sniping behind the scenes in an attempt to return to power, at some points bordering on treason such as when he implicitly approved a coup d’état, which became unnecessary when the 1958 Algerian Crisis led to his ascension back to power. Upon returning to power, he parlayed the Algerian crisis, and the mystique surrounding his name into ten years of near dictatorial rule. His almost sociopathic hatred of the United States and Great Britain was a constant source of political turmoil within NATO and the nascent European Community. While it can be said that almost everything he did was in furtherance of French interests, many of his positions and actions were counterproductive and ultimately damaging. This is an outstanding biography of one of the most important political figures of the 20th century, and well worth the time required to wade through its 800 densely packed pages.
The costs of de Gaulle’s idea of France were high. As the general himself once mused, “There is no action in which the devil has no part.” The two massacres, and the charnel-house stench which clings to them, are evidence of the reliable rule that even—often especially—the greatest and best of men have terrible flaws and can do terrible things; and also of the other rule that power tends to corrupt. PrémiosDistinctions
A definitive biography of the mythic general who refused to accept the Nazi domination of France, drawing on unpublished letters, memoirs, and papers in the newly opened de Gaulle archives that show how this volatile man put a broken France back at the center of world affairs. In the early summer of 1940, when France was overrun by German troops, one junior general who had fought in the trenches in Verdun refused to accept defeat. He fled to London, where he took to the radio to address his compatriots back home. "Whatever happens," he said, "the flame of French resistance must not be extinguished and will not be extinguished." At that moment, Charles de Gaulle entered history. For the rest of the war, de Gaulle insisted he and his Free French movement were the true embodiment of France. Sometimes aloof but confident in his leadership, he quarreled violently with Churchill and Roosevelt. Through sheer force of personality he inspired French men and women to risk their lives to resist the Nazi occupation. Thanks to de Gaulle, France was recognized as one of the victorious Allies when Germany was finally defeated. Then, as President of the Fifth Republic, de Gaulle brought France to the brink of a civil war over his controversial decision to pull out of Algeria. Julian Jackson's landmark biography, the first major reconsideration in over twenty years, captures this titanic figure as never before.-- Não foram encontradas descrições de bibliotecas. |
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Google Books — A carregar... GénerosSistema Decimal de Melvil (DDC)944.083History and Geography Europe France and region France Third republic 1870- Fifth Republic 1958-Classificação da Biblioteca do Congresso dos EUA (LCC)AvaliaçãoMédia:
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