The Paris Game - by Ray Argyle (Paperback)

About the Book

Long dismissed as a vain and arrogant self-seeker chasing glory, Charles de Gaulle is revealed in The Paris Game as a transformative figure of the twentieth century whose unflagging determination brings France back from defeat and saves it from the twin threats of Communism and dictatorship

Book Synopsis

At a crucial moment in the Second World War, an obscure French general reaches a fateful personal decision: to fight on alone after his government's flight from Paris and its capitulation to Nazi Germany.
Amid the ravages of a world war, three men -- a general, a president, and a prime minister -- are locked in a rivalry that threatens their partnership and puts the world's most celebrated city at risk of destruction before it can be liberated. This is the setting of The Paris Game, a dramatic recounting of how an obscure French general under sentence of death by his government launches on the most enormous gamble of his life: to fight on alone after his country's capitulation to Nazi Germany. In a game of intrigue and double-dealing, Charles de Gaulle must struggle to retain the loyalty of Winston Churchill against the unforgiving opposition of Franklin Roosevelt and the traitorous manoeuvring of a collaborationist Vichy France. How he succeeds in restoring the honour of France and securing its place as a world power is the stuff of raw history, both stirring and engrossing.

Review Quotes

It is tempting to say that Ray Argyle's well-researched, fascinating book reads like a novel, but that would be wrong. No novelist could invent such a protagonist.-- "Literary Review of Canada"

About the Author

Ray Argyle is a Canadian journalist, the author of several books of biography and political history, and recipient of a Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal for contributions to Canadian life. During his long association with France, he has closely tracked the political careers of Charles de Gaulle and his successors. He lives in Kingston, Ontario.