1st Edition
The Extreme Right in France, 1789 to the Present From de Maistre to Le Pen
The Extreme Right in France, 1789 to the Present surveys the history of a fascinating but contentious political and intellectual tradition. Since 1789 the far right has been an important factor in French political life and in different eras has taken on a range of guises including traditionalism, ultra-royalism, radical nationalism, anti-Semitism and fascism.
This book is structured around the five main phases of extreme right activity, and the author explores key questions about each:
* Counter-revolution - what was the legacy of Joseph de Maistre's writings?
* Anti-Third Republic protest - how was the 'new right' of the 1880s and 1890s different from the 'old right' of previous decades?
* Inter-war fascism - how should we characterise the phenomenon of fascisme française?
* Vichy - why did Pétain and Laval collaborate with the Nazis?
* The Post-war far right - what is the relationship between Poujadism, Algérie Française and Le Pen's FN?
Biography
Peter Davies is Senior Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of Huddersfield. He is author of The National Front in France (1999) and France and the Second World War (2000).
'This is a balanced and well argued study that should be made compulsory reading for all students of French history and politics.' - Contemporary Review, August 2002
'Davies is clearly on familiar ground when talking about neo-fascism' - History of Political Thought, vol 24, issue 3, 2003
