France Under the Germans: Collaboration and Compromise

From 1940 to 1944, the French people adapted in a variety of ways to life under the domination of Nazi Germany. France under the Germans is the definitive study of the choices made by ordinary French citizens during that turbulent historical period, exposing for the first time the degree of their complicity with the Nazis. Acclaimed Swiss historian Philippe Burrin makes use of a wide variety of newly discovered sources: the records of businesses, industrial organizations, and banks; police files; and reports on mail censorship and telephone conversations. France under the Germans is an extraordinary analysis of the ways in which people respond under extreme pressure, and of how people can betray not only their countries but themselves.

Philippe Burrin is a professor of international history in the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. His previous books include France Under the Germans and Hitler and the Jews. He lives in Geneva, Switzerland.