Books, Arts & Manners

The French Army and Politics, 1870- 1970, by Alistair Horne (Peter Bedrick, 109 pp., $12.95)

In 1962 a New York Times editorial warned American generals against attempting a military coup over the Cuban crisis (or over our increasing involvement in Vietnam) as the French generals had done the year before over de Gaulle’s granting of independence to Algeria. The warning was probably unnecessary, as it would also have been in Alistair Horne’s own Great Britain: The traditional relationship between army and civilian government varies greatly from one nation to another. De Gaulle himself revolted against Pétain’s lawful government, as did the German generals against Hitler, and Pinochet against Allende. Alistair Horne’s brief but careful study raises— but of course cannot answer—the question of what conditions (if any) might justify an army’s rising against a government or regime perceived as detrimental to the nation. Or, put otherwise: Who is the ultimate custodian of national integrity?

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Thomas Molnar

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The French Army and Politics, 1870- 1970, by Alistair Horne (Peter Bedrick, 109 pp., $12.95)

In 1962 a New York Times editorial warned American generals against attempting a military coup over the Cuban crisis (or over our increasing involvement in Vietnam) as the French generals had done the year before over de Gaulle’s granting of independence to Algeria. The warning was probably unnecessary, as it would also have been in Alistair Horne’s own Great Britain: The traditional relationship between army and civilian government varies greatly from one nation to another. De Gaulle himself revolted against Pétain’s lawful government, as did the German generals against Hitler, and Pinochet against Allende. Alistair Horne’s brief but careful study raises— but of course cannot answer—the question of what conditions (if any) might justify an army’s rising against a government or regime perceived as detrimental to the nation. Or, put otherwise: Who is the ultimate custodian of national integrity?