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Article: The Last Great Frenchman: A Life of General De Gaulle.
- Article from:
- Commonweal
- Article date:
- November 17, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 Commonweal Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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On the author's telling, the greatness of Charles De Gaulle lies "in his single-minded devotion to his country, and in his skill and strength in its service." More particularly, Charles Williams--whose day job as Deputy Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition is not something "le General" would have admired or even understood--is at pains to lay out De Gaulle's defense of his ideal of France during the war. To powerful effect, Williams cites the wife of a British general attached to the Free French by Churchill. Here is Mary Boren Spears's description of DeGaulle in July, 1940.
I think he felt the dishonor of
France as few man can feel anything,
and that he ...