Charles de Gaulle, France’s Man, is revealed in remarkable detail in this sweeping Biography. Author and Historian Julian Jackson de mystifies France’s iconic leader by revealing details about him obtained from a variety of sources made available only recently by the de Gaulle Archive.
The book at 800+ pages is almost encyclopedic in size, yet never feels dense. Jackson’s writing style makes this biography a fairly easy read.
— Jeff’s Thoughts and Other Worthless Trivia —
de Gaulle was President of France during my pre-teenage years. My interest in France ties back to 10 years of public-school based French lessons. The lessons were more than learning conversational French. The teachings and work assignments involved the country, its culture, and its people.
de Gaulle, to me at least, is confounding at almost every turn. This biography does a great job of explaining why.
The Provence region of France is one of my favorite places. A trip to Bonnieux with an acquaintance’s Lavender Farm as a home base is one of my favorite experiences. The trip was also a photo-shoot for me. It was extremely rewarding on a personal and professional front. I wrote about the trip and shoot; I Wish for a Year in Provence or At Least Another Two weeks. A link to the post is [here]. One of my very favorite images I have captured is shown below.
