Table of Contents

List of illustrations; Preface; List of abbreviations; Introduction; Part I. Prelude to Power: 1. The origins of the Popular Front; 2. The leaders; Part II. The Explosion: 3. The social explosion; 4. The cultural explosion; Part III. The Exercise of Power: Peace, Bread And Liberty: 5. 'Liberty': defending democracy; 6. 'Bread': the Blum new deal; 7. 'Peace': the contradiction; Part IV. Coalition and Opposition: 8. The mystique of unity; 9. The view from the right; Part V. The End of the Popular Front: 10. Post-mortem; Appendices; Glossary; Notes; Bibliographical note; Index.

Reviews

' ... the book is by far the best-researched and most significant account of the Popular Front to appear on either side of the Channel for the last two decades. All it requires is for CUP to issue a paperback edition for it to become established as the main (or indeed the only) student text on the subject for the next decade.' Modern and Contemporary France 'This book provides the first history of the French Popular Front in English, and fills that surprising gap with scholarly distinction ... The author modestly disclaims any ambition to offer a work of sustained original research, but his mastery of the immense literature on the Popular Front is remarkable, and his analyses of rival interpretations are models of lucidity.' International Affairs ' ... a comprehensive and detached corrective to partisan diatribes and eulogies ... a well-balanced and readable assessment.' The Times Literary Supplement