The Complete War Memoirs of Charles De Gaulle

Rating:
Summary: A Classic
Review: An essential book and one of the best autobiographies ever. Unlike Churchill and others, de Gaulle researched and wrote his momoirs all by himself, without any "contributors" and shadow writers. He writes clearly, the style is formal and elegant. A joy to read, which is wonderfully surprising and refreshing considering the stuffy nature of most such undertakings. To truly understand the man, one has to read this. His motives, his love for France, the belief in France's destiny. The world has still a lot to learn from him.

Rating:
Summary: Essential historical document and a suprisingly good read.
Review: As one might expect, De Gaulle's memoirs of the Second World War are deeply concerned with self-justification, if not self-glorification. More surprisingly, they are good reading. De Gaulle writes in a formal, but clear and elegant style. The period covered is from the fall of France, through De Gaulle's flight to England and formation of the Free French, to the liberation and a bit of the postwar period. Obviously, this is not objective history. The chief interest of the book is that De Gaulle's personality and opinions colors every page. The reader may indeed be irritated, or he may be amused, by the author's undisguised self-regard, but in any case there are compensations. There is revealing detail on events such as the fall of France and the invasion of North Africa. With great candor and sharp perception De Gaulle assesses his own and others' strategies. There are good pen-portraits of Churchill and many other contemporaries. And there is the fascination of viewing great events through the prism of a commanding mind..

Rating:
Summary: Essential historical document and a suprisingly good read.
Review: As one might expect, De Gaulle's memoirs of the Second World War are deeply concerned with self-justification, if not self-glorification. More surprisingly, they are good reading. De Gaulle writes in a formal, but clear and elegant style. The period covered is from the fall of France, through De Gaulle's flight to England and formation of the Free French, to the liberation and a bit of the postwar period. Obviously, this is not objective history. The chief interest of the book is that De Gaulle's personality and opinions colors every page. The reader may indeed be irritated, or he may be amused, by the author's undisguised self-regard, but in any case there are compensations. There is revealing detail on events such as the fall of France and the invasion of North Africa. With great candor and sharp perception De Gaulle assesses his own and others' strategies. There are good pen-portraits of Churchill and many other contemporaries. And there is the fascination of viewing great events through the prism of a commanding mind..

Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: This book is outstanding for its literary, even poetic, power. De Gaulle thinks of France as a person fated for tragedy and greatness. His biggest problem is achieving recognition as the political representative of France after France has signed an armistice with the Germans: Churchill tells him that although he claims to represent France, neither England or the US will recognize him as such; De Gaulle steadily replies that it is sufficient for him if the French people recognize him. This is the story of a man standing against the entire world for the sake of an ideal. Reminded me of Nelson Mandela!

Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: This book is outstanding for its literary, even poetic, power. De Gaulle thinks of France as a person fated for tragedy and greatness. His biggest problem is achieving recognition as the political representative of France after France has signed an armistice with the Germans: Churchill tells him that although he claims to represent France, neither England or the US will recognize him as such; De Gaulle steadily replies that it is sufficient for him if the French people recognize him. This is the story of a man standing against the entire world for the sake of an ideal. Reminded me of Nelson Mandela!

Rating:
Summary: The Great Man Charles De Gaulle
Review: This book tells the story of a soldier that rose from being a foot soldier to he became a General. Charles De Gaulle did see combat and conflicts from several different positions during his life - from being a scared soldier with a rifle in his hand to being a high ranked officer that ordered his soldiers into war. I think this is a very interesting book, since it tells a specific story about a very special man. I would recommend this book to everyone that are interested in European politics, Military history, or just the Great Man Charles De Gaulle!