HISTOIRE DE LA RESISTANCE EN EUROPE OCCIDENTALE

For the first time, a trans-national history of the Resistance, by the best historian on the subject.

The Resistance in Western Europe has long been considered a national phenomenon that provided a significant contribution, both politically and militarily, to the Nazi defeat. But the “army of shadows” could never have risen without the support of London, first, and then of Washington. National factors thus played a preeminent part in the birth of the Resistance, while the British and the Americans determined its growth. The time has come to broaden our perspective beyond the limits of borders to construct a trans-European history of the Resistance.

This is the book's goal. It aims to understand better the action of the clandestine forces in Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Italy between 1940 and 1945, analyzing their interactions and inserting the history of the “shadow soldiers” in the grand scheme of Anglo-American strategy.

This book, based on English, Italian, Belgian and other archives, is certain to become a classic. Olivier Wieviorka gives us a new, in-depth perception of the place and the role of the national resistance movements. He illuminates the policies of governments in exile and unveils the importance of finance, logistics, and British and American planning. Along the way, he describes the uniqueness of each country, while establishing the first trans-national history of the Resistance. The book represents a welcome renewal for a historiography always in need of fresh perspective.

A member of the Institut universitaire de France and a professor at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Cachan, OLIVIER WIEVIORKA is a recognized specialist on the Resistance and World War II. He has devoted several books to these subjects, including a definitive Histoire du Débarquement (History of D-Day, Seuil, 2007)and Histoire de la Résistance (A History of the Resistance, Perrin, 2013 - rights sold to Harvard University Press).