The Dark Side of France

An absorbing and timely exploration of the French far right, from the Dreyfus affair to Marine Le Pen and the National Rally.

The Dark Side of France provides us with a revelatory examination of rightward French politics across three centuries. Beginning with the aftermath of the humiliating Franco-Prussian War, the international journalist Enda O’Doherty boldly assesses some of the most notorious moments in modern French history, including the Dreyfus affair, the 1914 assassination of socialist leader Jean Jaurès by a right-wing fanatic, the mob attack on Prime Minister Léon Blum, the collaboration with Nazi forces during World War II, the execution of intellectual “traitor” Robert Brasillach, the OAS terrorists’ resistance against Algerian independence, and their near-miss assassination attempt on President Charles de Gaulle. The political inheritors of wartime collaboration and the OAS movement are alive and well in today’s far-right movements as France now faces a critical period that will shape the future of the country. A compelling and disturbing narrative history, this is an utterly compelling journey through the dark side of the republic.