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Resistance: European Resistance to the Nazis, 1940-1945
"The definitive history."— Sunday Telegraph This groundbreaking book was the first to analyse the whole field of wartime resistance to the Nazis in Europe. In following a truly epic theme, with its drama of Intelligence, deception, escape and subversion and in gathering its main threads into the fabric of a single volume, Michael Foot achieved a unique and valuable work of gripping and lasting significance. Michael Foot served throughout the Second World War and in 1945 was decorated for service with the French Resistance in Brittany. He taught at Oxford University for eight years, before becoming Professor of Modern History at Manchester University. He died in February 2012.
544 pages, Paperback
First published December 31, 1976
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About the author
M.R.D. Foot
37 books14 followersMichael Richard Daniell Foot, CBE, TD, known as M. R. D. Foot — was a British military historian and former British Army intelligence officer and special operations operative during World War II.
The son of a career soldier, Foot was educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford, where he became involved romantically with Iris Murdoch. He joined the British Army on the outbreak of World War II and was commissioned into a Royal Engineers searchlight battalion. In 1941 searchlight units transferred to the Royal Artillery. By 1942, he was serving at Combined Operations Headquarters, but wanting to see action he joined the SAS as an intelligence officer and was parachuted into France after D-Day. He was for a time a prisoner of war, and was severely injured during one of his attempts to escape. For his service with the French Resistance he was twice mentioned in despatches and awarded the Croix de Guerre. He ended the war as a major. After the war he remained in the Territorial Army, transferring to the Intelligence Corps in 1950.
After the war Foot taught at Oxford University for eight years before becoming Professor of Modern History at Manchester University. His experiences during the war gave him a lifelong interest in the European resistance movements, intelligence matters and the experiences of prisoners of war. This led him to become the official historian of SOE, with privileged access to its records, allowing him to write some of the first, and still definitive, accounts of its wartime work, especially in France. Even so, SOE in France took four years to get clearance.
Foot left the Labour Party while his namesake Michael Foot — to whom he was very distantly related — was leading it, and joined the SDP (Social Democratic Party).
Foot was the great-great-great-grandson of Benjamin Fayle who built Dorset's first railway, the Middlebere Plateway in 1806. Fayle was the great-great-grandson of William Edmunson, the First Irish Quaker.
He was at one time married to the British philosopher Philippa Foot (née Bosanquet), the granddaughter of U.S. President Grover Cleveland. Foot's second was wife was Elizabeth King, with whom he had a son and a daughter. In 1972 Foot married Mirjam Romme.
M.R.D. Foot was appointed a CBE in 2001. He also received the Territorial Decoration for Long Service in the Territorial Army.
See also his obituaries at:
1) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obitu... accessed 26 May 2012.
2) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/... accessed 26 May 2012.
The son of a career soldier, Foot was educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford, where he became involved romantically with Iris Murdoch. He joined the British Army on the outbreak of World War II and was commissioned into a Royal Engineers searchlight battalion. In 1941 searchlight units transferred to the Royal Artillery. By 1942, he was serving at Combined Operations Headquarters, but wanting to see action he joined the SAS as an intelligence officer and was parachuted into France after D-Day. He was for a time a prisoner of war, and was severely injured during one of his attempts to escape. For his service with the French Resistance he was twice mentioned in despatches and awarded the Croix de Guerre. He ended the war as a major. After the war he remained in the Territorial Army, transferring to the Intelligence Corps in 1950.
After the war Foot taught at Oxford University for eight years before becoming Professor of Modern History at Manchester University. His experiences during the war gave him a lifelong interest in the European resistance movements, intelligence matters and the experiences of prisoners of war. This led him to become the official historian of SOE, with privileged access to its records, allowing him to write some of the first, and still definitive, accounts of its wartime work, especially in France. Even so, SOE in France took four years to get clearance.
Foot left the Labour Party while his namesake Michael Foot — to whom he was very distantly related — was leading it, and joined the SDP (Social Democratic Party).
Foot was the great-great-great-grandson of Benjamin Fayle who built Dorset's first railway, the Middlebere Plateway in 1806. Fayle was the great-great-grandson of William Edmunson, the First Irish Quaker.
He was at one time married to the British philosopher Philippa Foot (née Bosanquet), the granddaughter of U.S. President Grover Cleveland. Foot's second was wife was Elizabeth King, with whom he had a son and a daughter. In 1972 Foot married Mirjam Romme.
M.R.D. Foot was appointed a CBE in 2001. He also received the Territorial Decoration for Long Service in the Territorial Army.
See also his obituaries at:
1) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obitu... accessed 26 May 2012.
2) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/... accessed 26 May 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 19, 2018
M.R.D. Foot uses classic English understatement early in this book to describe those who joined the Resistance in the occupied countries. He says, "It would be a piece of grandiose priggery to claim that resisters loved their fellow men more dearly than other people did. What they did have - what their consciences gave them - was a strong sense that human dignity is more than a phrase. They saw nazis treating men and women like cattle; and they were quite sure this would not do."
Foot worked in the SOE, so he speaks with authority of what happened, especially with regard to France. But his narrative is elliptical and full of humor or sarcasm that is a little too obscure in many cases for modern readers. Foot assumes knowledge on the part of the reader, that most, 75 years after the event, simply do not have. However, if you are willing to do frequent Google searches to inform yourself of whom he is speaking, this is a useful account. I have also read the extensive discussion of the Resistance in France by Lacouture in his biography of De Gaulle, and Yeo-Thomas' firsthand account of his service in the SOE and his mission to France, as well as Lynne Olsen's excellent description of resistance in Last Hope Island. I wish Foot's account had the verve of Yeo-Thomas' book or the readability of Olsen's. Nonetheless, this is an important reference that introduces virtually all the key actors in the various resistance movements, and describes it's methods, actions, and results.
Foot has an interesting conclusion; he says that yes, some trains were blown up, some nazi leaders assassinated, and the Resistance helped slow the German Army's response to D-Day, but the overall military effect was in his words "puny". But the moral effect was enormous, both in giving hope to the populace of occupied countries, but more importantly by restoring the self-respect of citizens of the formerly occupied countries after the war. De Gaulle, he points out, came to power not via American military power, but rather by virtue of his command of, and support by the Resistance. Even those who had done little or nothing to directly aid the Resistance could bask in its reflected glory, and that was good for all the liberated peoples of Europe as they strove to get on with life in the post-war period.
Foot worked in the SOE, so he speaks with authority of what happened, especially with regard to France. But his narrative is elliptical and full of humor or sarcasm that is a little too obscure in many cases for modern readers. Foot assumes knowledge on the part of the reader, that most, 75 years after the event, simply do not have. However, if you are willing to do frequent Google searches to inform yourself of whom he is speaking, this is a useful account. I have also read the extensive discussion of the Resistance in France by Lacouture in his biography of De Gaulle, and Yeo-Thomas' firsthand account of his service in the SOE and his mission to France, as well as Lynne Olsen's excellent description of resistance in Last Hope Island. I wish Foot's account had the verve of Yeo-Thomas' book or the readability of Olsen's. Nonetheless, this is an important reference that introduces virtually all the key actors in the various resistance movements, and describes it's methods, actions, and results.
Foot has an interesting conclusion; he says that yes, some trains were blown up, some nazi leaders assassinated, and the Resistance helped slow the German Army's response to D-Day, but the overall military effect was in his words "puny". But the moral effect was enormous, both in giving hope to the populace of occupied countries, but more importantly by restoring the self-respect of citizens of the formerly occupied countries after the war. De Gaulle, he points out, came to power not via American military power, but rather by virtue of his command of, and support by the Resistance. Even those who had done little or nothing to directly aid the Resistance could bask in its reflected glory, and that was good for all the liberated peoples of Europe as they strove to get on with life in the post-war period.
August 13, 2017
A good introductory survey of the topic, which I wish I had come across sooner. On the other hand, it shows its 70s origins all too clearly. If there is an area of particular interest, look up the more recent works too
July 30, 2022
A solid if early history of resistance throughout Europe against the Nazis in wartime.
April 23, 2017
While I sadly, could not finish this before I had to return it to the library, I did enjoy this book. I does take an interesting look at the various elements of the resistance to the Nazi's within the European theater. There are many interesting tidbits of information about what a resistance member would have to do in order to survive, as well as what the author did while he served as a resistance fighter in the SAS during that time. He often would include little bits of information that he gained from personal experience, which, as any historian would tell you, is the best kind of information.
So why rate this text three stars? Well, one problem is the writing style. It is extremely dry. This will turn off most people in a heartbeat, and I can totally understand why. It simply is not enough in terms of keeping me interested, and I often turned to read something else instead of this work, which is not what I want to do when I know this text has to be returned to the library. Also, some of the references are dated in this text. Keep in mind, that my edition was published in 1977, so many of the examples he uses are actually dated, and may not be as well known as they are today. If you can, I would suggest picking up a newer edition, such as one made in 2010. That may be better.
Overall, I would say, read this only if you are very interested in the topic. This text is very dry, but if you can work through it, it can be a fascinating work to study the things that people did to fight the Nazis in WWII.
So why rate this text three stars? Well, one problem is the writing style. It is extremely dry. This will turn off most people in a heartbeat, and I can totally understand why. It simply is not enough in terms of keeping me interested, and I often turned to read something else instead of this work, which is not what I want to do when I know this text has to be returned to the library. Also, some of the references are dated in this text. Keep in mind, that my edition was published in 1977, so many of the examples he uses are actually dated, and may not be as well known as they are today. If you can, I would suggest picking up a newer edition, such as one made in 2010. That may be better.
Overall, I would say, read this only if you are very interested in the topic. This text is very dry, but if you can work through it, it can be a fascinating work to study the things that people did to fight the Nazis in WWII.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews