the book continually beguiles the reader by the skill and economy with which it explains complex matters in a way that is both intelligible to the relative newcomer to French politics and is a lesson to seasoned travellers on how to combine simplicity of exposition with fidelity to the subtleties of the subject ... this book is a valuable addition to the surprisingly lean list of works that successfully make sense of political traditions of the last two centuries in France without oversimplification or distortion. It would seem destined for a long life as staple student reading.

the book continually beguiles the reader by the skill and economy with which it explains complex matters in a way that is both intelligible to the relative newcomer to French politics and is a lesson to seasoned travellers on how to combine simplicity of exposition with fidelity to the subtleties of the subject ... this book is a valuable addition to the surprisingly lean list of works that successfully make sense of political traditions of the last two centuries in France without oversimplification or distortion. It would seem destined for a long life as staple student reading.

the book continually beguiles the reader by the skill and economy with which it explains complex matters in a way that is both intelligible to the relative newcomer to French politics and is a lesson to seasoned travellers on how to combine simplicity of exposition with fidelity to the subtleties of the subject ... this book is a valuable addition to the surprisingly lean list of works that successfully make sense of political traditions of the last two centuries in France without oversimplification or distortion. It would seem destined for a long life as staple student reading.