Readers of history books have come to expect nothing but the best from Anthony Beevor and this is no exception. The superb pairing of Beevor with Artemis Cooper has produced an excellent account (certainly the best I've read) on France during and after the Liberation. Cooper (a descendent of Duff Cooper, the first post-war ambassador to France) provides a massive contribution to the text with the diaries and letters of Duff and Diana Cooper which inspires a wholly original and unique insight to the politics at the time.
This, added to the exceptionally accessible style of Beevor, makes a thoroughly enjoyable, as well as informative read.
The only criticism I can think of is the occasional niggling feeling at the end of the odd paragraph that the story that has just been recounted was not quite finished. This is certainly not a common occurrence and does not at all detract from the main body of the narrative.
The book covers many aspects of life after the Libreation in Paris - not just political, it also focuses a great deal on the lives of intellectuals and artists - and also gives an idea as to the suffering of France generally in those hard years.
In conclusion I must recommend this book to anyone with even the vaguest interest in French social history.
