Book Reviews : Vichy — Political Dilemma. By PAUL FARMER. (New York: Columbia University Press. 1955. Pp. vi, 376. $5.50.) Histoire de Vichy: 1940-1944. By ROBERT ARON and GEORGETTE ELGEY. (Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard. 1954. Pp. 766. 1250 francs.)

• Published date: 01 March 1956
• Date: 01 March 1956
• Author: Willard Ross Yates
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295600900129
• Subject Matter: Articles

194

because

they

found

it

so

easy

to

vulgarize,

bastardize,

and

popularize

tendencies

that

had

long

been

traditional

in

German

thought:

the

Ro,

mantic

preoccupation

with

dynamism

and

emotion;

the

exaltation

of

power

and

force;

and

the

deprecation

of

moderation.

Professor

Grenzmann

also

argues

against

Ritter

and

observes

that

the

&dquo;relapse

into

barbarism

would

have

been

impossible

if

moral

and

spiritual

values

had

not

already

been

undermined

over

a

period

not

of

years

but

of

decades.&dquo;

Incisive

special

studies

of

the

thought

and

influence

of

such

figures

as

Constantin

Frantz,

Nietzsche,

Stefan

George,

and

Moeller

van

den

Bruck

add

further

weight

to

the

argument

for

continuity.

The

group

of

essays

dealing

with

the

political

and

social

practices

of

the

Third

Reich

is

less

successful.

Many

of

the

essays

were

written

five

years

ago

and

no

advantage

has

been

taken

of

the

mass

of

research

that

has

been

done

since

their

preparation.

This

section

also

illustrates

the

basic

weakness

of

the

volume

as

a

whole:

there

is

a

regrettable

lack

of

co-ordina-

tion

and

planning.

The

editors

gave

the

contributors

free

rein

and

made

no

effort

to

set

the

scope

of

any

of

the

essays.

The

result

is

avoidable

repeti-

tion

and

overlapping.

There

are

rewarding

separate

essays

in

this

collection,

but

it

is

to

be

hoped

that

the

International

Council

in

preparing

the

promised

volume

on

the

causes

and

practices

of

fascism

will

be

more

rigorous

in

editorial

direction.

Williams

College.

ROBERT

G.

L.

WAITE.

Vichy

—

Political

Dilemma.

By

PAUL

FARMER.

(New

York:

Columbia

University

Press.

1955.

Pp.

vi,

376.

$5.50.)

Histoire

de

Vichy

:

1940-1944.

By

ROBERT

ARON

and

GEORGETTE

ELGEY.

(Paris:

Librairie

Arthème

Fayard.

1954.

Pp.

766.

1250

francs.)

These

two

books

constitute

the

best

accounts

that

have

yet

appeared

of

the

rise,

problems,

and

fall

of

the

Vichy

regime.

Vichy -Political

Dilemma

has

a

central

theme

but

does

not

contain

detailed

descriptions

of

many

events:

Histoire

de

Vichy

has

no

main

theme

but

contains

a

faithful

report

of

the

events,

ideas,

and

personalities

which

were

associated

with

Vichy.

Both

books

suffer

from

the

lack

of

perspective

which

accompanies

any

interpretation

of

contemporary

history.

Nevertheless,

they

clear

away

many

of

the

myths

which

have

obscured

French

history

and

government

in

the

period

between

1940

and

1944.

In

Vichy

-

Political

Dilemma

Mr.

Farmer

describes

the

regime

of

Vichy

as

the

result

and

manifestation

of

a

dilemma

which

existed

in

several

forms

between

1919

and

1944.

He

shows

how

the

events

of

the

interbellum

period

divided

French

public

opinion

into

two

camps,

one

believing

that