Britain and France in Two World Wars - Truth, Myth and Memory

France and Britain, indispensable allies in two world wars, remember and forget their shared history in contrasting ways. The book examines key episodes in the relationship between the two countries, including the outbreak of war in 1914, the battles of the Somme and Verdun, the Fall of France in 1940, Dunkirk, and British involvement in the French Resistance and the 1944 Liberation. The contributors discuss how the two countries tend to forget what they owe to each other, and have a distorted view of history which still colours and prejudices their relationship today, despite government efforts to build a close political and military partnership.

List of contents

General Introduction: Robert Tombs
Part I - The First World War
Introduction: Gary Sheffield
1. Why Allies: Necessity or Folly? John Keiger
2. Sacrifice and Slaughter: Two Armies, Two Wars? William Philpott
3. The Push to Victory, 1918: The Allied Contributions, Elizabeth Greenhalgh
Part II - The Second World War
Introduction: Emile Chabal and Akhila Yechury
4. 1940: The French Army and the BEF, Martin Alexander
5. The British, the Free French, and Resistance, Sebastien Albertelli
6. Liberation: The British Contribution, Olivier Wieviorka
Part III - Remembering and Forgetting
Introduction: Philip Bell
7. The First World War, Jay Winter
8. The Second World War, Robert Frank
9. An Overview, David Reynolds
Index

Product details

• Authors: Emile Chabal, Emile Tombs Chabal, Robert Tombs
• Assisted by: Emile Chabal (Editor), Chabal Emile (Editor), Robert Tombs (Editor), Tombs Robert (Editor)
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 18.07.2013
• EAN: 9781441169334
• ISBN: 978-1-4411-6933-4
• No. of pages: 224
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Frankreich, 20. Jahrhundert (1900 bis 1999 n. Chr.), Europäische Geschichte, Vereinigtes Königreich, Großbritannien, Geschichte allgemein und Weltgeschichte, France, European History, HISTORY / Military / General, 20th Century, military history, HISTORY / Europe / France, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / 20th Century, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Modern warfare