The last fifty years of French history have seen immense challenges for the constructing a new European order, building a modern economy, searching for a stable political system. It has also been a time of anxiety and doubt. The French have had to come to terms with the legacy of the German Occupation, the loss of Empire, the political and social implications of the influx of foreign immigrants, the rise of Islam, the destruction of rural life, and the threat of Anglo-American culture to French language and civilization.
Robert Nigel Gildea FBA FRHistS is Emeritus Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford and is the author of several influential books on 20th century French history.
I skimmed and skipped and then finally stopped. I just couldn't get into this book and his writing, despite being really intersted in learning about France since 1945. Too bad.
Gildea swings between arid detail and rich morsels of insight. All in all worth reading, providing a good understanding of how France has redefined itself--and been redefined--since World War II.