De Gaulle and the United States: A Centennial Reappraisal

- The first scholarly study of the entire sweep of the stormy De Gaulle-US relationship from the 1930s to 1969.- Features eyewitness accounts of Henry Kissinger and the former French Prime Minister, Pierre Messmer. This absorbing book analyses the turbulent De Gaulle-U.S. relationship from 1940, when Germany unexpectedly and swiftly defeated the French army, to 1969, when President De Gaulle withdrew from public life. Drawing on hitherto inaccessible archives, it features vivid recollections of both French and American eyewitnesses, including Henry Kissinger, the former French Prime Minister, Pierre Messmer, and many of De Gaulle's close associates. It also explores the roller-coaster of American popular feelings about De Gaulle, and addresses larger issues of American vs. European approaches to foreign policy and American scholars' current assessments of De Gaulle's long-term impact on France and the world.