The Last Great Frenchman: A Life of General De Gaulle [Paperback]

Charles Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 10, 1997

Critical acclaim for The Last Great Frenchman

"This is a splendid popular biography . . . recounted with verve and anecdotal warmth, along with fresh appraisals of de Gaulle's career as soldier, politician, and head of state." --Publishers Weekly.

"Highly readable. . . . It is to Williams' credit that he is able to get so close to such a prickly personality." --San Francisco Chronicle

"Charles Williams has matched a great subject by something near to a great book." --Daily Telegraph (London)

"Marvelous vignettes. . . . Williams tells his story with pace and skill." --Martin Gilbert

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This is a splendid popular biography of French leader Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970), who saved France's honor through his leadership of the Free French during WWII and saved France itself from civil war in 1958. All this is familiar territory but is recounted here with verve and anecdotal warmth, along with fresh appraisals of de Gaulle's career as soldier, politician and head of state. Williams contrasts the infuriatingly obstinate public figure with the private man, emotional and affectionate in the bosom of his family. Especially interesting is the account of de Gaulle's tender relationship with his retarded daughter, "about whom he cared perhaps more than any [other] human being." The author also sheds light on de Gaulle's determined anti-Americanism during his final years. This is an admiring examination of a man whose single-minded patriotism made him the living symbol of France for three decades. The author (Lord Williams of Elvel) is deputy leader of the opposition in the British House of Lords. Photos.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Williams, deputy leader of the opposition in the British House of Lords, tells the story in English of an emphatically French life, and he fully engages the reader. "Ramrod" and "Wormwood" were code names the British "maliciously but accurately" applied to the leader of the Free French; and their wartime ally, American President FDR, detested De Gaulle. This biography explains well French foreign policy toward the "Anglo-Saxons" during the French Fifth Republic. Although admiring De Gaulle's tenacity and strength, the author does not hide what he considers the unattractive side of the general's aloof grandeur and verbal combativeness, and he terms the way De Gaulle came to power in 1958 nearly Napoleonic. De Gaulle in private was more appealing, according to Williams; he is said to have been extraordinarily fond of his retarded daughter. The only thing lacking here is an explanation of the Vichy regime; however, names are helpfully annotated. Recommended for all libraries.?R. James Tobin, Univ. of Wisconsin Lib., Milwaukee
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (February 10, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471180718
• ISBN-13: 978-0471180715
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #677,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Last Great Frenchman: A Life of Gen. De Gaulle, September 6, 2001

By 

John Sullivan (Mtn. View, MO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Great Frenchman: A Life of General De Gaulle (Paperback)

Mr. Williams' book is a first rate introduction to the life and times of Gen. de Gaulle. For students of WWII and modern world politics, the perspective presented is fresh and thought provoking. I found it a good companion to the General's own memiors. It is hard not to have a opinion about a man who had such forceful opinions himself, and never seemed to be afraid of expressing them or the resulting controversy. The book is fair and balanced in it's coverage of the subject though occasionally light on background and reasons to explain the General's actions. The fact must be acknowledged that some actions could only be explained "because he was de Gaulle". Mr. Williams' writing of the Petain - de Gaulle relationship is the most complete and impartial report I have read.

The quality of the printing and photo reproduction, in the paperback version I read, was very good.

English language books on modern French history are not abundant. This is a excellant volume to start off with or
add to a collection.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An apt title, May 19, 2001

By 

Jon R. Schlueter (Grand Terrace, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Great Frenchman: A Life of General De Gaulle (Paperback)

Is it possible to love your county too much? If your love of country leads you to break with most of the political leaders of your day and flee to a foreign shore to resist the creators of the Holocaust, the answer is no. If it leads you to snub leaders of the countries that liberated your captive nation -- with the consequent political fall-out -- the answer may be different. The public de Gaulle emerges from these pages as fiercely patriotic, complex, shrewd and obstinate, even as he appears sensitive and introspective in private, and France was better for his birth. In every good drama, the protagonist undergoes a change. This biography is like a good drama. I won't reveal the personal crisis and other events which, according to the author, enlarged de Gaulle between World War II and his return to power in the 50s, but I will say it makes thoughtful reading. This biography also discusses de Gaule's ten year reign in France as President. Particularly interesting is his cultivation of third world countries in pursuit of French influence in the World. His fall from power is also described. Biographies tend to be bitter-sweet, ending as they do in decline and death. This biography is like that. Yet de Gaulle remained de Gaulle to the end.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great and Obstinate figure of History, January 15, 2006

By 

Mike B (CANADA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Great Frenchman: A Life of General De Gaulle (Paperback)

Truly a great figure of the 20th century. As the author points out de Gaulle would have been a minor footnote in French history if he had died before 1940. At the age of 50 he stepped unto English soil after leaving France where he had been condemned to death for refusing to go along with the French government in signing the armistice with Germany. His strength and moral courage brought France out of the abyss of collaboration to (once again) a player on the world stage.
De Gaulle is accurately portrayed by Williams as an uncompromising man - he skillfully out-maneuvered his rival, Giraud in Algeria during the war to place himself as the sole leader of Fighting France. De Gaulle was to share power with no man. The constant quarrels with Churchill would be humorous if there was not a war to be won. And as Williams states that war, for De Gaulle, was against Britain and the U.S. De Gaulle's single-minded vision was to return France to a position of power at the conclusion of the war. If that meant irritating Roosevelt and Churchill more than Hitler - so be it. Probably De Gaulle's biggest miscalculation, as Williams' points out was with Roosevelt. De Gaulle never comprehended the man or the nation. De Gaulle had a European view of the world and did not have Churchill's grasp of everything that the U.S. had to offer for the liberation of Europe. Roosevelt was reluctant to fight for the British empire and was therefore much less interested in preserving France's external holdings and viewed De Gaulle as a brash upstart with truthfully little to offer in terms of military strength.
Ironically De Gaulle himself came to see that anti-colonial point of view in the early 60's when Algeria was granted autonomy with the blessing of European France.
Williams' illustrates on several occasions how De Gaulle's sheer strength of personality and his ability to irritate most anyone on any occasion, including his fellow countrymen, makes for a great historical biography of an extraordinary individualist.