Vichy France

The trial of Marshal Pétain continues to haunt France to this day

17 June 2023 9:00 am

Was one venal old man primarily responsible for France’s catastrophe of 1940-44, or was it a case of collective failure? The question remains unanswered, says Patrick Marnham

Patriotic Traitor finds dramatic gold in France’s interwar history

12 March 2016 9:00 am

Jonathan Lynn, co-author of Yes Minister, has excavated the history of France during the two world wars and discovered dramatic…

Scapegoat for all of urban life’s ills: Le Corbusier, c.1950

How dedicated a fascist was Le Corbusier?

23 May 2015 9:00 am

The ‘revelations’, 50 years after he drowned, that Le Corbusier was a ‘fascist’ and an anti-Semite are neither fresh nor…

Monsieur le Commandant, by Romain Slocombe - review

28 September 2013 9:00 am

There can be few characters in modern fiction more unpleasant than Paul-Jean Husson, the narrator in Romain Slocombe’s Monsieur le…