The Hollow Years: France in the 1930s

This dark, dense chronicle examines France's national psyche during the 1930s when, still traumatized by WWI, the nation faced looming German aggressiveness. Economic depression, a rising tide of xenophobia and anti-Semitism and a paralysis of leadership, exemplified by the appeasement of the Nazis, brought the country to a point in 1939 when it seemed virtually unwilling to defend itself. Weber (A Modern History of Europe) dramatizes the political and diplomatic indecision, especially in the military, with its declining morale and expectation of catastrophe. Although France possessed more tanks and ground troops than Germany, its army suffered an ignominious defeat in the blitzkrieg of May-June 1940. A compelling examination of a demoralized nation. Photos. (Nov.)