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Fighters in the Shadows: A New History of the French Resistance
The French Resistance has an iconic status in the struggle to liberate Nazi-occupied Europe, but its story is entangled in myths. Gaining a true understanding of the Resistance means recognizing how its image has been carefully curated through a combination of French politics and pride, ever since jubilant crowds celebrated Paris’s liberation in August 1944. Robert Gildea’s penetrating history of resistance in France during World War II sweeps aside “the French Resistance” of a thousand clichés, showing that much more was at stake than freeing a single nation from Nazi tyranny.
As Fighters in the Shadows makes clear, French resistance was part of a Europe-wide struggle against fascism, carried out by an extraordinarily diverse group: not only French men and women but Spanish Republicans, Italian anti-fascists, French and foreign Jews, British and American agents, and even German opponents of Hitler. In France, resistance skirted the edge of civil war between right and left, pitting non-communists who wanted to drive out the Germans and eliminate the Vichy regime while avoiding social revolution at all costs against communist advocates of national insurrection. In French colonial Africa and the Near East, battle was joined between de Gaulle’s Free French and forces loyal to Vichy before they combined to liberate France.
Based on a riveting reading of diaries, memoirs, letters, and interviews of contemporaries, Fighters in the Shadows gives authentic voice to the resisters themselves, revealing the diversity of their struggles for freedom in the darkest hours of occupation and collaboration.
As Fighters in the Shadows makes clear, French resistance was part of a Europe-wide struggle against fascism, carried out by an extraordinarily diverse group: not only French men and women but Spanish Republicans, Italian anti-fascists, French and foreign Jews, British and American agents, and even German opponents of Hitler. In France, resistance skirted the edge of civil war between right and left, pitting non-communists who wanted to drive out the Germans and eliminate the Vichy regime while avoiding social revolution at all costs against communist advocates of national insurrection. In French colonial Africa and the Near East, battle was joined between de Gaulle’s Free French and forces loyal to Vichy before they combined to liberate France.
Based on a riveting reading of diaries, memoirs, letters, and interviews of contemporaries, Fighters in the Shadows gives authentic voice to the resisters themselves, revealing the diversity of their struggles for freedom in the darkest hours of occupation and collaboration.
608 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2015
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About the author
Robert Gildea
18 books18 followersRobert Nigel Gildea is professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford and is the author of several influential books on 20th century French history.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
May 15, 2025
I was surprised that none of the many people I know or follow on GR who read voraciously of modern history and particularly of WWII had read this book. That many of them, like me, were old enough to have learnt about the French resistance from numerous war films of little veracity (see my footnote *1 below), did not feel any need to read about the reality still surprises me.
If you do want to know about the real 'resistance' story then look no further than Professor Gildea's splendid book. Having written splendidly already about the history of France 1940-45 in 'Marianne in chains: in search of the German occupation, 1940–1945' in 2002 he has adopted the forensic intensity to seek out the reality from legend and reality is less pleasing then legend, but it is also more complicated and more interesting. That everyone wasn't actively resisting makes those who were seem all the braver, particularly those who stood up from the early days.
One thing any careful reader will come away with is an understanding of the fearsome complexities involved in resisting and he certainly doesn't make it easy for those of us from countries which weren't occupied to feel assured that if we had faced the same situation that would have been heroes.
*1 But what of today's films? How many younger viewers believe Hitler, Goering et al died in a fire in Paris cinema like in 'Inglorious Bastards' or that Hitler was assassinated by a lone Allied assassin as in 'The Man Who Shot Adolph Hitler'. Compared to such free wheeling disregard for truth the WWII films I grew up could be used as historical texts.
If you do want to know about the real 'resistance' story then look no further than Professor Gildea's splendid book. Having written splendidly already about the history of France 1940-45 in 'Marianne in chains: in search of the German occupation, 1940–1945' in 2002 he has adopted the forensic intensity to seek out the reality from legend and reality is less pleasing then legend, but it is also more complicated and more interesting. That everyone wasn't actively resisting makes those who were seem all the braver, particularly those who stood up from the early days.
One thing any careful reader will come away with is an understanding of the fearsome complexities involved in resisting and he certainly doesn't make it easy for those of us from countries which weren't occupied to feel assured that if we had faced the same situation that would have been heroes.
*1 But what of today's films? How many younger viewers believe Hitler, Goering et al died in a fire in Paris cinema like in 'Inglorious Bastards' or that Hitler was assassinated by a lone Allied assassin as in 'The Man Who Shot Adolph Hitler'. Compared to such free wheeling disregard for truth the WWII films I grew up could be used as historical texts.
November 10, 2015
Fighters in the Shadows – An excellent examination of French Resistance.
Robert Gildea is Professor of Modern History at Oxford and specialises in nineteenth and twentieth century French history. Professor Gildea is an expert on France under German occupation and more importantly on collective memory and political culture. In Fighters in the Shadows, Gildea shines a very bright light in to this very dark area of history.
Churchill said that ‘history is written by the victors’, no more so than in the French collective memory of the Second World War and the occupation by the Germans. It was General Charles de Gaulle who created the myth that resistance represented the true heart of France. In this book Robert Gildea clearly states that ‘De Gaulle’s resistance myth was military, national and male” before he goes on to disprove the myth that the resistance movement was more civilian, international and female then was ever allowed to remain.
This book shines a light of the famous myth that the French freed themselves and that there were only a few scoundrels who collaborated during the Nazi occupation. Gildea challenges this in that resistance only capable of mobilising a minority of people everyone else attempted to carry on as if nothing had changed. At the end of the war it was the prostitute who was tar and feathered, while the likes of Coco Chanel and Edith Piaf got away with their collaboration, for example.
One of the great things that his book does is contest the De Gaulle version of resistance and restores to their rightful positions those often ignored such as women and the Allied Armies. The Allies often referred to De Gaulle as their ‘mutual headache’. De Gaulle’s myth also ignored the anti-fascist fighters that came from Spain, they emigrants from Central and Eastern Europe, Jewish refugees and British Operatives from the SOE, these are now remembered. De Gaulle airbrushed them out of history Robert Gildea puts them back to where they belong at the centre of the resistance history.
It required a great deal of courage to stand and make even the smallest of gestures against the Germans and the French Vichy collaborators, it was the French Police that confronted children of Beziers as they wanted to lay wreaths on Remembrance Day. It was the French Police, aided by French citizens, who rounded up the Jews and transported them to Paris for the final journey east, not the Germans.
After the war plenty of romantic guff was written and movies made that enhanced the myth of French Resistance and it was not until 1971 that sentimental view was challenged in France, and even then somewhat drowns out.
The French Resistance in the War occupies one of the great moral tests of the war and asks some challenging questions such as how ordinary people behaved and able to define themselves in what were dangerous times. Gildea has taken a step back and looked at the bigger picture that helps to give context to those acts of courage that did take place. Gildea has done more in this book to challenge the myth of resistance and ask people to open their eyes to the bigger picture as well as look at the moral and political impact on French history.
It does leave one question hanging which only the reader can answer, how would we have acted if we had been occupied. One has to remember there were certainly people who were sympathetic to the German cause here too before one tries to take the moral high ground.
Robert Gildea is Professor of Modern History at Oxford and specialises in nineteenth and twentieth century French history. Professor Gildea is an expert on France under German occupation and more importantly on collective memory and political culture. In Fighters in the Shadows, Gildea shines a very bright light in to this very dark area of history.
Churchill said that ‘history is written by the victors’, no more so than in the French collective memory of the Second World War and the occupation by the Germans. It was General Charles de Gaulle who created the myth that resistance represented the true heart of France. In this book Robert Gildea clearly states that ‘De Gaulle’s resistance myth was military, national and male” before he goes on to disprove the myth that the resistance movement was more civilian, international and female then was ever allowed to remain.
This book shines a light of the famous myth that the French freed themselves and that there were only a few scoundrels who collaborated during the Nazi occupation. Gildea challenges this in that resistance only capable of mobilising a minority of people everyone else attempted to carry on as if nothing had changed. At the end of the war it was the prostitute who was tar and feathered, while the likes of Coco Chanel and Edith Piaf got away with their collaboration, for example.
One of the great things that his book does is contest the De Gaulle version of resistance and restores to their rightful positions those often ignored such as women and the Allied Armies. The Allies often referred to De Gaulle as their ‘mutual headache’. De Gaulle’s myth also ignored the anti-fascist fighters that came from Spain, they emigrants from Central and Eastern Europe, Jewish refugees and British Operatives from the SOE, these are now remembered. De Gaulle airbrushed them out of history Robert Gildea puts them back to where they belong at the centre of the resistance history.
It required a great deal of courage to stand and make even the smallest of gestures against the Germans and the French Vichy collaborators, it was the French Police that confronted children of Beziers as they wanted to lay wreaths on Remembrance Day. It was the French Police, aided by French citizens, who rounded up the Jews and transported them to Paris for the final journey east, not the Germans.
After the war plenty of romantic guff was written and movies made that enhanced the myth of French Resistance and it was not until 1971 that sentimental view was challenged in France, and even then somewhat drowns out.
The French Resistance in the War occupies one of the great moral tests of the war and asks some challenging questions such as how ordinary people behaved and able to define themselves in what were dangerous times. Gildea has taken a step back and looked at the bigger picture that helps to give context to those acts of courage that did take place. Gildea has done more in this book to challenge the myth of resistance and ask people to open their eyes to the bigger picture as well as look at the moral and political impact on French history.
It does leave one question hanging which only the reader can answer, how would we have acted if we had been occupied. One has to remember there were certainly people who were sympathetic to the German cause here too before one tries to take the moral high ground.
December 24, 2021
The subtitle of this book is "A New History of the French Resistance." And, I guess, it is. I collect books on topics that interest me as they are released and having never read (let alone owned) a book on the French (WW II) Resistance, I secured this one to make sure I had the most recent scholarship on the topic.
Nevertheless, I was disappointed. The book is much more about the people and organizations (and their politics, and their resultant political infighting) than the resistance itself. While organized loosely chronologically, don't look for a traditional outline of what happened. Instead, the author provides snippets of action, amidst descriptions of resisters, their backgrounds, their organizations, and their beliefs.
I'm not a professional historian, nor an expert in the period. But I'm an avid amateur, accustomed to dense writing and thick tomes that demand a lot of the reader. I still found this book tedious. There are too many names, too many acronyms (even with a list of abbreviations and a cast list), and too many assumptions about the reader's familiarity with the details of French history (broadly and within a WW II framework) and geography. One countrywide map had to suffice.
This is not to say that I learned nothing. Au contraire, I learned a LOT. I had a sense of the complexity and variety of French resistors, but the reality of this complexity was of a whole differen scale. And I thoroughly enjoyed the "Afterlives" section that described the immediate post-war challenges - it bore many similarities to Year Zero by Ian Buruma, which I loved.
And this is a professional, academic work. Footnoting is comprehensive, and both the author's grasp of the subject and his insight are astounding. It's abundantly clear that he is preeminent resistance scholar, and deservedly so.
There is no doubt that this book belongs on the bookshelf of a student of the French Resistance. But if you an amateur historian looking for a comprehensive history ... look elsewhere.
Nevertheless, I was disappointed. The book is much more about the people and organizations (and their politics, and their resultant political infighting) than the resistance itself. While organized loosely chronologically, don't look for a traditional outline of what happened. Instead, the author provides snippets of action, amidst descriptions of resisters, their backgrounds, their organizations, and their beliefs.
I'm not a professional historian, nor an expert in the period. But I'm an avid amateur, accustomed to dense writing and thick tomes that demand a lot of the reader. I still found this book tedious. There are too many names, too many acronyms (even with a list of abbreviations and a cast list), and too many assumptions about the reader's familiarity with the details of French history (broadly and within a WW II framework) and geography. One countrywide map had to suffice.
This is not to say that I learned nothing. Au contraire, I learned a LOT. I had a sense of the complexity and variety of French resistors, but the reality of this complexity was of a whole differen scale. And I thoroughly enjoyed the "Afterlives" section that described the immediate post-war challenges - it bore many similarities to Year Zero by Ian Buruma, which I loved.
And this is a professional, academic work. Footnoting is comprehensive, and both the author's grasp of the subject and his insight are astounding. It's abundantly clear that he is preeminent resistance scholar, and deservedly so.
There is no doubt that this book belongs on the bookshelf of a student of the French Resistance. But if you an amateur historian looking for a comprehensive history ... look elsewhere.
July 31, 2018
Fighters in the Shadows is a great research source for anyone interested in the history of the French Resistance. It’s not only very informative, but also highlights aspects of the Resistance which are often overlooked by other scholars: women’s participation, the heroic actions of the foreign résistants (Polish, Jewish, Spanish, escaped Russian POWs, and anti-fascist German), the role of the Church and individual clergymen who saved numerous lives, and more. Each chapter is written in the form of a separate thesis so it’s easy to follow not only the timeline but each separate subject. I particularly appreciated the “Afterlives” and “Conclusion,” in which the author analyzes different aspects of the Resistance movement from the independent perspective: the Gaullist movement, the communist one, and all the other factions and subdivisions which all morphed into one movement of Liberation. Many people still believe that the French Resistance was a very homogeneous and unified organization, but the author does a wonderful job of demonstrating the reality of it. Loved it!
Want to read
March 2, 2016"Gildea has chosen, somewhat against current trends, to center his narrative upon numerous personal recollections and interviews recorded after the liberation. Despite the evident problems of memory, particularly where emotionally charged subjects are concerned, he has wanted to recapture authentic feelings. His narrative is vivid and powerful, and he has not neglected current scholarly findings. " http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/...
May 26, 2016
Gildea reasonably posits that the French did not liberate themselves, nor were many of them insurgent during the occupation. Those who stood up had help. The resistance in France was also (mostly?) comprised of communists, Jews, women, Spanish Republicans, Italian anti-fascists, anti-Nazi Germans, Central and East European transplants, refugees, escaped POWs… The Gaullist myth has transmogrified over the years. I would’ve had a hard time being diplomatic with him. Big hug to FDR. OTOH, big picture + hindsight: Churchill helped Roosevelt get over De Gaulle’s assholery. Thank you, UK.
I try to read about WWII infrequently. The horror of it all plus Stalin’s upcoming grip on some of my favorite places.... It's too much. I’m really rooting for the former Warsaw Pact and USSR countries.
Both my grandfathers served, but Dziadzie got to Paris in 44! Wish I coulda been there, too. Crazy times. I'm glad things worked out for France.
I try to read about WWII infrequently. The horror of it all plus Stalin’s upcoming grip on some of my favorite places.... It's too much. I’m really rooting for the former Warsaw Pact and USSR countries.
Both my grandfathers served, but Dziadzie got to Paris in 44! Wish I coulda been there, too. Crazy times. I'm glad things worked out for France.
January 2, 2018
I found this quite hard going and got pretty lost in all the names and multiple storylines and viewpoints. I don't know if it might have been easier for someone who is more familiar with the background of the French Resistance. It was interesting, but took me an uncharacteristically long time to read as I was very often not in the mood for trying to work out what was going on.
December 1, 2016
Was excited about this book thought the subject was great. But i found it a bit of a slog, got lost in all the names and groups and the political side of it all.
April 2, 2022
Heavily researched--which is good, but heavily written--which is bad. Every 3 by 5 note card need not wind up in the final product. The Resistance movement in France during World War Two is a well known aspect of that war. Gildea wrestles here with the idea of the memory of that movement. The history he provides shows that memory now exists in many versions. He draws the picture of heroic action by bands of French patriots against the Nazi occupiers, but also the role of many immigrants from outside France fighting against fascism, and the motivations that had little to do with mere liberation. He destroys the myth that, through Resistance, the French people liberated themselves, although it is still held by some.
He documents the drive of the communist groups to achieve not only liberation, but national insurrection to bring about a communist France. He depicts de Gaulle's use of these groups to build his own political image to enhance his current image and to take over after the war. The immigrants, Jewish, Spanish, even German, fought to hinder the Nazis to protect their own people from harm or to pave to way to reopening the war against General Franco in Spain. Women are given a prominent role in the book as not only supporters of the action against the enemy, but as combat participants, as well. The British and American Allies supported resistance groups with training, arms, and leadership so the groups could work in conjunction with the military effort after the invasion in Normandy.
Sadly, there was continuing friction among these moving parts throughout the war and in the forging of memory when the war was over. During the war, the friction led to fighting between the several groups, and to competing narratives in later years. Many effort were made in the post-war years to build a written record of the events lived by the Resistance members. Author Gildea draws extensively from these efforts. He makes clear that the many efforts to build a memory each have as their ultimate purpose to establish a myth, citing the several manifestations that myth has assumed.
There are many clearly presented histories of Resistance groups in France. Their clarity comes from a focus on one, or a few, individuals and what they did. Lynne Olson's "Madame Fourcade's Secret War" is an excellent, and recommended, example.
Gildea's book captures the barbarities and violence that typified the work of the Resistance and the Nazi reaction to it. It also presents the darker side of human nature, even among those individuals working for a noble goal.
He documents the drive of the communist groups to achieve not only liberation, but national insurrection to bring about a communist France. He depicts de Gaulle's use of these groups to build his own political image to enhance his current image and to take over after the war. The immigrants, Jewish, Spanish, even German, fought to hinder the Nazis to protect their own people from harm or to pave to way to reopening the war against General Franco in Spain. Women are given a prominent role in the book as not only supporters of the action against the enemy, but as combat participants, as well. The British and American Allies supported resistance groups with training, arms, and leadership so the groups could work in conjunction with the military effort after the invasion in Normandy.
Sadly, there was continuing friction among these moving parts throughout the war and in the forging of memory when the war was over. During the war, the friction led to fighting between the several groups, and to competing narratives in later years. Many effort were made in the post-war years to build a written record of the events lived by the Resistance members. Author Gildea draws extensively from these efforts. He makes clear that the many efforts to build a memory each have as their ultimate purpose to establish a myth, citing the several manifestations that myth has assumed.
There are many clearly presented histories of Resistance groups in France. Their clarity comes from a focus on one, or a few, individuals and what they did. Lynne Olson's "Madame Fourcade's Secret War" is an excellent, and recommended, example.
Gildea's book captures the barbarities and violence that typified the work of the Resistance and the Nazi reaction to it. It also presents the darker side of human nature, even among those individuals working for a noble goal.
November 15, 2022
Gildea doesn't say so, but to me this book displays the difficulties of writing about amorphous leaderless social movements. Unsurprisingly, the Resistance in one town or department had great difficulty stably communicating with the Resistance in nearby departments - even ignoring the ideological differences between different groups (which might vary from Moscow-vintage Communists to exiled Spanish Republicans to ex-military quasi-Fascists.) So, everything one might say about one group might be next to worthless about any other group. An ideal comprehensive history of the Resistance would need to tell the story of each individual group and draw comparisons - but that would be prohibitively long, even if we had all the full stories.
(As the Gospel of John says, "I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written" about what one single person did over three years.)
What Gildea does is describe various trends and give anecdotes from different local Resistance groups illustrating it. This's perhaps the best way to get an overview, but it leaves me simultaneously hungering for more and frustratedly unable to really feel like I know any one of the groups.
In one sense, the French Resistance did have a leader: Charles de Gaulle, or the named leaders of the different groups inside France. But even beyond how de Gaulle was out of touch with the Resistance's daily life (or even that of any one group), Gildea (with good reason) writes about the Resistance as opposed to de Gaulle in many ways. He discusses de Gaulle's fluctuating public image among the Resistance, tells of the struggles he had to establish and exert his authority among them, and argues that in many ways de Gaulle, post-Liberation, imposed his own sense of France on the Resistance. It's this last point where I think Gildea is the weakest. On the one hand, I think he could give more anecdotes to illustrate the Resistance groups' sense of France. On the other, I'm immediately wondering to what extent the Resistance's sense(s) of France triumphed when de Gaulle unceremoniously resigned from government just a year and a half after Liberation - which Gildea doesn't even mention.
(As the Gospel of John says, "I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written" about what one single person did over three years.)
What Gildea does is describe various trends and give anecdotes from different local Resistance groups illustrating it. This's perhaps the best way to get an overview, but it leaves me simultaneously hungering for more and frustratedly unable to really feel like I know any one of the groups.
In one sense, the French Resistance did have a leader: Charles de Gaulle, or the named leaders of the different groups inside France. But even beyond how de Gaulle was out of touch with the Resistance's daily life (or even that of any one group), Gildea (with good reason) writes about the Resistance as opposed to de Gaulle in many ways. He discusses de Gaulle's fluctuating public image among the Resistance, tells of the struggles he had to establish and exert his authority among them, and argues that in many ways de Gaulle, post-Liberation, imposed his own sense of France on the Resistance. It's this last point where I think Gildea is the weakest. On the one hand, I think he could give more anecdotes to illustrate the Resistance groups' sense of France. On the other, I'm immediately wondering to what extent the Resistance's sense(s) of France triumphed when de Gaulle unceremoniously resigned from government just a year and a half after Liberation - which Gildea doesn't even mention.
May 3, 2021
Es un libro muy útil en muchos sentidos para estudiar la resistencia contra la ocupación nazi en Francia, pero al final me llevo una sensación agridulce, y sobre todo de rabia.
El libro se pinta como revolucionario, como un estudio de la resistencia francesa más allá de mitos nacionales gaullistas, alejándose de los relatos dominantes y etc. Y es verdad que lo hace en muchos ámbitos, porque habla del papel de los comunistas, los judíos, los extranjeros, los refugiados alemanes o españoles... Figuras que tradicionalmente nunca se han tenido en cuenta, porque interesaba más un relato de una resistencia nacional, patriótica, homogénea.
Pero esos relatos tradicionales también dejaron fuera a las mujeres. Y la rabia con este libro es que no aborda el papel femenino en la resistencia de la misma forma que lo hace con las otras figuras que la historiografía ha maltratado. Para el autor, las mujeres son meras anécdotas, no pone ejemplos de más de cinco o seis líneas y se rige tanto por los roles de género que es incapaz de analizar y estudiar a todas aquellas mujeres que se los saltaron. Solo habla de las actividades "típicamente femeninas". De hecho, intenta hacer una crítica (horriblemente paternalista) sobre la sociedad francesa de los años 30 y 40 que relegaba las mujeres a las tareas domésticas, de cuidados, etc., cuando él hace exactamente lo mismo en este libro ignorando a todas las resistentes que cumplieron misiones que nada tenían que ver con esos roles.
Así que, aunque es un trabajo exhaustivo del que he conseguido un montón de información interesante sobre el funcionamiento de todos los tipos de resistencia (organizaciones, ideologías, objetivos, coordinación, relatos, etc.), que no puedo obviar y de ahí las 3 estrellas, la sensación final es de decepción, porque al final hasta las historias más "revolucionarias" pecan de un machismo insoportable y dejan de lado a las mujeres.
El libro se pinta como revolucionario, como un estudio de la resistencia francesa más allá de mitos nacionales gaullistas, alejándose de los relatos dominantes y etc. Y es verdad que lo hace en muchos ámbitos, porque habla del papel de los comunistas, los judíos, los extranjeros, los refugiados alemanes o españoles... Figuras que tradicionalmente nunca se han tenido en cuenta, porque interesaba más un relato de una resistencia nacional, patriótica, homogénea.
Pero esos relatos tradicionales también dejaron fuera a las mujeres. Y la rabia con este libro es que no aborda el papel femenino en la resistencia de la misma forma que lo hace con las otras figuras que la historiografía ha maltratado. Para el autor, las mujeres son meras anécdotas, no pone ejemplos de más de cinco o seis líneas y se rige tanto por los roles de género que es incapaz de analizar y estudiar a todas aquellas mujeres que se los saltaron. Solo habla de las actividades "típicamente femeninas". De hecho, intenta hacer una crítica (horriblemente paternalista) sobre la sociedad francesa de los años 30 y 40 que relegaba las mujeres a las tareas domésticas, de cuidados, etc., cuando él hace exactamente lo mismo en este libro ignorando a todas las resistentes que cumplieron misiones que nada tenían que ver con esos roles.
Así que, aunque es un trabajo exhaustivo del que he conseguido un montón de información interesante sobre el funcionamiento de todos los tipos de resistencia (organizaciones, ideologías, objetivos, coordinación, relatos, etc.), que no puedo obviar y de ahí las 3 estrellas, la sensación final es de decepción, porque al final hasta las historias más "revolucionarias" pecan de un machismo insoportable y dejan de lado a las mujeres.
November 30, 2016
Ask most people about the French Resistance and you'll get an image of young men and women cycling around the countryside with Sten guns slung under their arms committing acts of sabotage or moving downed allied airmen from safe house to safe house. It's a narrative fuelled by popular media portrayal and the deliberate Gaullist policy set out clearly in the book to claim the story of the Resistance for its own.
Robert Gildea shines a detailed and forensic light on the story showing how the Resistance, far from being a unified whole, was made up of myriad groups and nationalities and began with small non violent acts of leaflet and newspaper publication before moving on to the active acts of sabotage and fighting that are so beloved of film and TV drama. It also tells the tale of the different strands of the Resistance, of the attempts to rescue Jews; of the Jews themselves fighting back and the large number of Spanish Republicans and even Germans who had escaped Spain after the end of the civil war and saw the struggle against Hitler as a continuation of the anti fascist fight. Finally it shows how the Communist resistance saw themselves as fighting for a national insurrection and liberation prior to revolution only for the liberation to be stolen from them by de Gaulle and the Free French in August 1944.
While the book at times descends into too many personal anecdotes and sketches meaning that it can be hard to follow the overall narrative, it is an enjoyable and very useful re-examination of the subject matter.
Robert Gildea shines a detailed and forensic light on the story showing how the Resistance, far from being a unified whole, was made up of myriad groups and nationalities and began with small non violent acts of leaflet and newspaper publication before moving on to the active acts of sabotage and fighting that are so beloved of film and TV drama. It also tells the tale of the different strands of the Resistance, of the attempts to rescue Jews; of the Jews themselves fighting back and the large number of Spanish Republicans and even Germans who had escaped Spain after the end of the civil war and saw the struggle against Hitler as a continuation of the anti fascist fight. Finally it shows how the Communist resistance saw themselves as fighting for a national insurrection and liberation prior to revolution only for the liberation to be stolen from them by de Gaulle and the Free French in August 1944.
While the book at times descends into too many personal anecdotes and sketches meaning that it can be hard to follow the overall narrative, it is an enjoyable and very useful re-examination of the subject matter.
August 24, 2020
I give it five stars for showing history is more complicated than we are taught. in our younger years we are taught half-truths and sometimes lies. The liberation of France is one of those instances where de Gaulle captured the narrative with the connivance of Brits and Americans. Reading more detailed histories provides an insight and sometimes anger at what was done and could have been done. Because of egos, hubris and politics it is likely more lives were lost and the war lasted longer than it should have. For much of the war the United States tried to get a deal with Vichy France, those who surrendered France to Germany to begin with. Neither the US nor Britain wanted to provide socialist and communist led resistance groups with arms, thus hindering their harrying of German units. When Paris was liberated by resistance fighters just before LeClerc's armor entered the city, the resistance was snubbed in favor of de Gaulle and the organized military. In addition much of the resistance was by immigrants and children of immigrants rather than the French themselves. However, a lot of French people helped hide and assist in escaping thousands of Jews, which can in itself be considered resistance. I advocate people reading history to get more of the context and actual facts rather than accepting what one is taught in school.
January 31, 2019
A very comprehensive overview of all aspects of resistance in France this book definitely is; a fun and occasionally lighthearted read it is not. The author's style makes this seem at times to be more of an academic reference work than the sort of book one sits down and reads cover to cover - that said, one cannot fault him for completely exposing the reality of who was in the resistance, what they achieved from a military & political standpoint and how the "myth" was crafted. However for those looking for a broad brush and entertaining look at the shadow armies in France this book suffers from the same problem as Max Hasting's recent book Secret War - if you ignore the fun bits and concentrate on the important facts, then it is all rather unexciting and one realises that what these and other "secret armies" achieved strategically in the war was very little.
November 19, 2018
History is never a simple narrative, and yet people crave simple narratives. The author addresses both of these facts and lays out each group's narratives for us to see. Which is about as close to objectivity this subjective subject is going to get.
There are also some interesting facts, like how the first division into liberate/liberated Paris wasn't French even though the Americans supposedly left the French Army the honour to allow it to save face. The first into Paris was a division of the French army wholly made up of Spanish Republican fighters in exile.
The author also leaves the reader in no doubt the the French Communist Party was a primary mover in the resistance, at least once the Warsaw Pact had been broken.
There are also some interesting facts, like how the first division into liberate/liberated Paris wasn't French even though the Americans supposedly left the French Army the honour to allow it to save face. The first into Paris was a division of the French army wholly made up of Spanish Republican fighters in exile.
The author also leaves the reader in no doubt the the French Communist Party was a primary mover in the resistance, at least once the Warsaw Pact had been broken.
September 5, 2017
Because I've been reading Alan Furst's novels set in late 1930s & 40s Europe during WWII, I thought I'd educate myself on the French Resistance. Gildea's book is very detailed with a multifaceted cast of characters and groups that made up a complicated, sometimes unorganized & divergent resistance. It allowed me to understand the diverse and varied actions of those who decided to fight back from the shadows in all their wide-ranging ways, many giving up their lives in doing so, but in the end helping to drive the Germans out of France.
June 2, 2025
Teeming with useful info, but a hard, difficult read that could use more maps and more reference material. Prof Gildea seems to have a voluminous knowledge of the Resistance, but the writing reads like an academic paper at times. It is fact laden and doesn't have a storytelling feel at all.
It may be a challenge for Gildea to speak to a more novice audience, and as a work of history the book is rock solid. Still, I wanted more introduction, stage-setting, and more storytelling to help me take it all in. Just my take, others may disagree.
It may be a challenge for Gildea to speak to a more novice audience, and as a work of history the book is rock solid. Still, I wanted more introduction, stage-setting, and more storytelling to help me take it all in. Just my take, others may disagree.
December 17, 2024
Long, very detailed … an arduous read
Robert Gildea no doubt has a very full and detailed understanding of the French Resistance. He is no doubt an important authority on this wide-ranging movement and history. But, at leastto the casual reader, his extensive details make the narrative of the book hard to plow through. I learned, no doubt, but ‘enjoyable’ is not a term I would use to describe this book.
Robert Gildea no doubt has a very full and detailed understanding of the French Resistance. He is no doubt an important authority on this wide-ranging movement and history. But, at leastto the casual reader, his extensive details make the narrative of the book hard to plow through. I learned, no doubt, but ‘enjoyable’ is not a term I would use to describe this book.
September 4, 2019
Fresh assessment of an old story
Very interesting book which flagged up many areas of French history that I was unaware of. Very balanced and happy to call out untruths and fabrications from all sides. Very much worth a read.
Very interesting book which flagged up many areas of French history that I was unaware of. Very balanced and happy to call out untruths and fabrications from all sides. Very much worth a read.
January 23, 2020
3.5 stars
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April 1, 2020This is a historical read that I will be going through slowly as it requires background knowledge of the names of individuals and knowledge of events that I need to look up as I read.
June 13, 2021
I found this a really enlightening and very comprehensive read. It was detailed and thorough and certainly shed new light on the role of so many different groups and people.
May 3, 2025
La patrie ou la mort, nous vaincrons!
July 19, 2020
This book is mostly interesting for the intensive you of oral history or memoirs. It is built around the lives and death of resistants. It makes a large place for people who are usually less represented such as women and foreigners. An interesting section is linked to Jews as resistants and not just victims. There is an interesting last chapter showing how De Gaulle tried and succeeded in eliminating the most radicals résistants from the after war either from the army or from government positions. The accumulation of portraits is sometimes difficult to follow but this is definitely a good addition to the History of the French resistance or to the Résistance in France.
November 12, 2016
For someone like this reader, who knew only the barest outlines of France's struggle against the Nazis ("the Maquis," "the Butcher of Lyons," "the Resistance") and the politics that surrounded it--de Gaulle and his lonely struggle for acceptance; Pétain, Laval, Darlan and the other traitors of Vichy France; the RAF, the SOE and the BBC, all those brave men and women parachuted into Occupied France--this book connects a lot of dots and fills in background and detail.
Without appearing sensational, the author explodes a lot of myths, like de Gaulle's narrative of a heroic France united against the occupier, and explodes a lot of balloons, like the Church as merely a collaborator, the Communists as tools of Moscow and the Jews as victims. Women are given their proper place as fighters and survivors, and individuals taken from their heroes' plinths or traitors' graves and put back In the frame of their times and circumstances. Calmly and without prejudgment, the book opens a window on lives of endless courage under extreme stress and on moments of unbearable terror and pain. Internecine struggles and betrayals are part of the story: we see the fight for post-war France going on side by side with the fight for freedom. A most important theme is the idealistic desire for a renewed France pitted against the desire to resume politics as usual. That "politics as usual" won may help to explain the struggles of France after the war to reclaim its identity and its place in the world.
A few individuals are rightly remembered in the folklore of the time; many are unjustly forgotten. The book gives the 75000 French Communists who died their due, along with the many hues of socialists, nationalists and rightists. Spanish Republicans, German, Polish and Italian refugees, Jews of all nations and many other foreign resisters are brought back from the shadows where French nationalism has consigned them. Many had their own agendas, with the end of the Occupation in France only the first step.
The Maquis, the fighting arm of the Resistance, deserves its own history. Denigrated by the regular military during the Occupation and the rest of the war but revered in retrospect, the Maquis has become its own legend. But what was its true contribution?
Military matters take second place in this narrative, but we see as well as the invasion and liberation the earlier unsavory struggle for mastery among the generals in North and West Africa, and the roots of the post-war attempts to re-assert French power in the Algerian and Indo-Chinese wars.
All in all, a very satisfying and illuminating introduction.
Without appearing sensational, the author explodes a lot of myths, like de Gaulle's narrative of a heroic France united against the occupier, and explodes a lot of balloons, like the Church as merely a collaborator, the Communists as tools of Moscow and the Jews as victims. Women are given their proper place as fighters and survivors, and individuals taken from their heroes' plinths or traitors' graves and put back In the frame of their times and circumstances. Calmly and without prejudgment, the book opens a window on lives of endless courage under extreme stress and on moments of unbearable terror and pain. Internecine struggles and betrayals are part of the story: we see the fight for post-war France going on side by side with the fight for freedom. A most important theme is the idealistic desire for a renewed France pitted against the desire to resume politics as usual. That "politics as usual" won may help to explain the struggles of France after the war to reclaim its identity and its place in the world.
A few individuals are rightly remembered in the folklore of the time; many are unjustly forgotten. The book gives the 75000 French Communists who died their due, along with the many hues of socialists, nationalists and rightists. Spanish Republicans, German, Polish and Italian refugees, Jews of all nations and many other foreign resisters are brought back from the shadows where French nationalism has consigned them. Many had their own agendas, with the end of the Occupation in France only the first step.
The Maquis, the fighting arm of the Resistance, deserves its own history. Denigrated by the regular military during the Occupation and the rest of the war but revered in retrospect, the Maquis has become its own legend. But what was its true contribution?
Military matters take second place in this narrative, but we see as well as the invasion and liberation the earlier unsavory struggle for mastery among the generals in North and West Africa, and the roots of the post-war attempts to re-assert French power in the Algerian and Indo-Chinese wars.
All in all, a very satisfying and illuminating introduction.
August 10, 2016
The French Resistance is an aspect of history that you think you know about - but actually you've probably just taken in the cliches.
I was keen then to read this new history of the Resistance to broaden my knowledge beyond the obvious, especially as it came garlanded with good reviews and was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize.
What Gildea successfully does is bust the Resistance myth created by De Gaulle. He reclaims the stories of the many women and foreign nationals who played critical parts in the fight against the Nazis. In post-war France many of their contributions were airbrushed out.
In a comprehensive study, he also shows how fractured and dissolute the different Resistance groups were. They often had different motivations and goals, and were certainly not under the control of the exiled De Gaulle.
And as well as acts of heroism, there is treachery and ill-judged amateurism - some of which led to some horrific reprisals by the occupying forces.
Gildea uses original accounts and new documents then to paint a fascinating and full picture of the Resistance.
But for this general reader, it wasn't always easy-going. There is a bewildering cast of characters (unfortunately I didn't find the helpful glossary of names until I reached it at the back of the book). The fractured nature of the Resistance also leaves you grappling with a blizzard of initials and group names that left me struggling to always remember who was who.
Gildea's prose is also more efficient than stylish, and there is some unnecessary repetition of facts. Perhaps I also missed a sense of what it was like to be in the Resistance. Maybe that isn't the purpose of this book, but sometimes I longed for a little more atmosphere and narrative as well as academic rigour.
That's not to say this doesn't have many compelling moments - and I certainly feel I have gone well beyond the ABCs of the Resistance.
It is then a really impressive academic achievement and well worth reading, but for me it missed some of the humanity and insight which made Caroline Moorehead's Village of Secrets: Defying the Nazis in Vichy France so special.
I was keen then to read this new history of the Resistance to broaden my knowledge beyond the obvious, especially as it came garlanded with good reviews and was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize.
What Gildea successfully does is bust the Resistance myth created by De Gaulle. He reclaims the stories of the many women and foreign nationals who played critical parts in the fight against the Nazis. In post-war France many of their contributions were airbrushed out.
In a comprehensive study, he also shows how fractured and dissolute the different Resistance groups were. They often had different motivations and goals, and were certainly not under the control of the exiled De Gaulle.
And as well as acts of heroism, there is treachery and ill-judged amateurism - some of which led to some horrific reprisals by the occupying forces.
Gildea uses original accounts and new documents then to paint a fascinating and full picture of the Resistance.
But for this general reader, it wasn't always easy-going. There is a bewildering cast of characters (unfortunately I didn't find the helpful glossary of names until I reached it at the back of the book). The fractured nature of the Resistance also leaves you grappling with a blizzard of initials and group names that left me struggling to always remember who was who.
Gildea's prose is also more efficient than stylish, and there is some unnecessary repetition of facts. Perhaps I also missed a sense of what it was like to be in the Resistance. Maybe that isn't the purpose of this book, but sometimes I longed for a little more atmosphere and narrative as well as academic rigour.
That's not to say this doesn't have many compelling moments - and I certainly feel I have gone well beyond the ABCs of the Resistance.
It is then a really impressive academic achievement and well worth reading, but for me it missed some of the humanity and insight which made Caroline Moorehead's Village of Secrets: Defying the Nazis in Vichy France so special.
October 10, 2016
I got this book on the recommendation of Cara Black who has written two books that address the side effects of the fall and rise of France during WWII. Along with this I reread the book by Hanna Arendt which dealt with Eichmann in Jerusalem which I first read when I was in the Army. This is a hard-nosed written book that spares no one of the microscopic necessity of looking at what has happened. Interspersed with that is a movie which we saw about four or five years ago called "The Black Book".
It is a very illuminating book that focuses on what occurred after France fell at the beginning of WWII. With this is the startling realization that the rise of the Resistance Movement is sometimes labeled the "French Resistance" but it was one of many disparate ethnics/religions/races that tried hard t counter the onslaught of Nazism along with the tentacles of Fascism. Socialism looked to be answer as the writer notes because everything was failing. I challenge anyone out there...what would you have done? With who would you have made an alliance with?Do you have to dance with the devil? And for how long? The writer along with Cara Black and others humanizes the characters who are all caught up on the vortex of this hell on earth. I am Vet...Some of these people who Gildea writes ended up taking sides re France and Vietnam. The other part of this book is that the author rightly demonstrates time and time again that La France...L'Europe is still roiling over the French Revolution and the Paris Communes...Victor Hugo and his characters come strolling through like Ghosts.....as you read the cold fingers of the damned turns the pages as you become stunned by what is read...I am telling you there were moments as I was reading events in the papers were matching moments....it was baffling ......tis a good read....I will be donating this book to the Leominster Public Library in my parents and in-laws names so others can read this important book. Ronnie Houle .
It is a very illuminating book that focuses on what occurred after France fell at the beginning of WWII. With this is the startling realization that the rise of the Resistance Movement is sometimes labeled the "French Resistance" but it was one of many disparate ethnics/religions/races that tried hard t counter the onslaught of Nazism along with the tentacles of Fascism. Socialism looked to be answer as the writer notes because everything was failing. I challenge anyone out there...what would you have done? With who would you have made an alliance with?Do you have to dance with the devil? And for how long? The writer along with Cara Black and others humanizes the characters who are all caught up on the vortex of this hell on earth. I am Vet...Some of these people who Gildea writes ended up taking sides re France and Vietnam. The other part of this book is that the author rightly demonstrates time and time again that La France...L'Europe is still roiling over the French Revolution and the Paris Communes...Victor Hugo and his characters come strolling through like Ghosts.....as you read the cold fingers of the damned turns the pages as you become stunned by what is read...I am telling you there were moments as I was reading events in the papers were matching moments....it was baffling ......tis a good read....I will be donating this book to the Leominster Public Library in my parents and in-laws names so others can read this important book. Ronnie Houle .
February 4, 2016
This was an amazingly awful but thought-provoking read.
So many names that were challenging to keep straight and so many deaths. The tragedy of it all astonishes me endlessly and the political jockeying in the midst of life losses reminds me the human race learns nothing throughout the ages. Never.
We repeat the same scenarios endlessly while each generation pretends they will be different and learn from the past to achieve different results.
It is a sobering and depressing commentary on humankind.
So many names that were challenging to keep straight and so many deaths. The tragedy of it all astonishes me endlessly and the political jockeying in the midst of life losses reminds me the human race learns nothing throughout the ages. Never.
We repeat the same scenarios endlessly while each generation pretends they will be different and learn from the past to achieve different results.
It is a sobering and depressing commentary on humankind.
November 25, 2016
Ranskan 2. maailmansodan vastarinnan monimuotoisuudesta: vastarintaryhmien keskinäistä kamppailua ja tavoitteita, muiden kuin ranskalaisten miesten (naiset, vähemmistöt, ulkomaalaiset) rooli, pyrkimys vahvistaa Ranskan asema ja omakuva sodan jällkeen, liittoutuneiden ei-aina-niin-ylistävä tuki ja pitkällinen yhteistyö Vichyn kanssa ja vaihtoehtona de Gaullelle. Hirveästi esimerkkejä henkilötasolla, jolla käsittelee teemojansa. Tekee kirjasta helppolukuisen, kun esimerkit selventää. Lisää toki myös sivumäärää.
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January 17, 2017940.5344 G468f 2015
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