The Last Great Frenchman; A Life of General de Gaulle Book

Charles De Gaulle is one of those - to put it mildly - enigmatic historical figures of the 20th Century. Although not a central figure in world politics - an observation which probably has him rolling in his grave - De Gaulle inserted himself by the sheer force of his personality - usually by being "obstinate", (or a royal pain in the butt, take your pick) - into some of the critical crises of his time, i.e. World War II and the Cold War. And although in my readings De Gaulle has been a supporting character - this is my first De Gaulle biography and The Last Great Frenchman is an excellent read.

De Gaulle was first and foremost a soldier, known as "the General", although he didn't see much time on the battlefield. He was wounded twice in World War I and then captured by the Germans in 1915, spending the rest of the war as a POW. Against the Nazis he fought briefly in mid-May before escaping to England, where he declared himself leader of the Free French. This chapter in his life the one most of us are familiar with; De Gaulle "leading" his country with words and not much else.

After the liberation of France in 1944, he served briefly as the Provisional Leader of his country, (August 1944 - January 1946), and after resigning spent over a dozen years in "the wilderness". In 1959, during the French/Algerian crisis, he assumed the premiership - A story in and of itself and chronicled extremely well here - and stayed there until 1969, when he resigned once again.

During the mid-20th Century, De Gaulle was inseparable or at least synonymous with France - An identity that "the General" not only didn't attempt to correct, but actively fostered. Claiming he was acting in his country's best interest, De Gaulle had an uncanny ability to not only anger and frustrate people, but with his arrogant and petulant behavior, consistently and almost universally alienated himself from those around him - many of whom who were trying to help him. De Gaulle personified/epitomized the stereotype of the aloof, haughty and condescending "Frenchman". FDR loathed him and De Gaulle's track record with subsequent US Presidents was not much better, (except for Nixon). Churchill grudgingly respected him, but found many of De Gaulle's antics incomprehensible. Even many of his fellow French found De Gaulle beyond the pale.

All of this and much more is covered in The Last Great Frenchman. This is an engaging book and the author does an excellent job in chronicling De Gaulle's life and times, without judging or defending his subject. For De Gaulle lived an interesting, exciting and very controversial life - I'll leave it up to the individual reader to decide whether it was a great one.