It would be difficult to find in any age war memoirs comparable to those of Charles de Gaulle, the second volume of which has now appeared in English translation (Unity, 1942-1944, Simon and Schuster, $6.00). The book combines two eminent qualities: it is history in the sense in which Thucydides and Polybius wrote history, that is, reflection upon men in the light of their actions, ambitions, realizations and failures; and it is wisdom: the reflection of one man upon himself, his role and his responsibility – his awareness of holding in his hands the two fiery balls: moral principles and good politics.
The first volume dealt with the two-year period from de Gaulle’s London broadcast proclaiming that the war would go on for France despite the Vichy surrender, to the first sign of hope in 1942. The present volume begins with the preparations for the North African landing and accompanies the General until the moment he enters Notre Dame for the thanksgiving ceremony of the liberation. As de Gaulle himself is a man of one idea – the greatness of France – so the main inspiration of this book arises from a desire to explain how this ideal was pursued despite tremendous hardships.
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