The Pompidou Years, 1969-1974

This is the latest volume to appear in the successful Cambridge History of Modern France series, and is the most authoritative account available of the presidency of Georges Pompidou. Pompidou consolidated the constitutional changes made by de Gaulle, to the extent that he is now regarded as the Fifth Republic’s second founding father, and continued his haughty attitudes to foreign policy. He also launched a programme of modernisation and industrialisation: under Pompidou France saw both the climax and the end of the post-war boom. Serge Berstein and Jean-Pierre Rioux analyse the politics of the period, and also give an overview of France’s economy, culture and society. Their comprehensive study contains all the standard features, such as maps, chronology, and tables, which have helped this series to establish itself as the premier multi-volume account of modern France. Students, scholars and teachers in history and political studies will find this volume invaluable.