I recently read this book over a holiday break. Jonathan Fenby is a good writer and keeps you engaged with his subject matter, De Gaulle throughout the book.

If I had one criticism of the book is that he could have done more to put De Gaulle in the context of his times. The France of today is one of the most secular societies in Europe yet was once known as the Eldest Daughter of the Church. Fenby tells us about De Gaulle’s Catholicism in passing and treats it almost as an assumed fact.

It would have provided better context to the book to provide more explanation of the France in the interwar years 1919-1940 and the societal forces at play.

Other than this criticism the book is excellent dealing with De Gaulle’s relationship with Petain (pre-dating World War I) and the machinations and intrigues of the French elite coming to terms with the defeat of 1940. The chapters dealing with DeGaulle’s return to power in 1958 on the back of dealing with the Algerian Crisis and the skillful way that he extricated France from Algeria over a period of years are also excellent.

The twilight years, ie the 1968 protests up to DeGaulle’s defeat in a referendum and subsequent resignation in 1969 could also have done with more context. Was it just a case that DeGaulle was a man whose time had passed? Fenby doesn’t really explore the generational difference between Pompidou (his successor) and DeGaulle.

All in a good book and well worth a read – I rated it 8 out of 10.