Mitterrand by Philip Short - ISBN: 9780099597896
Paperback
Glamorous, flawed, brilliant: Mitterrand’s life shaped France’s destiny.

Mitterrand

A Study in Ambiguity

$52.55

  • Paperback

    720 pages

  • Release Date

    2 January 2015

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Summary

A definitive biography of one of the twentieth century’s most glamorous, complicated political figures.

Aesthete, sensualist, bookworm, politician of Machiavellian cunning—François Mitterrand was a man of exceptional gifts and exceptional flaws who, during his fourteen years as President, strove to drag his tradition-bound and change-averse country into the modern world.

As a statesman and as a human being, he was the incarnation of the mercurial, contrarian France which Brita…

Book Details

ISBN-13:9780099597896
ISBN-10:0099597896
Author:Philip Short
Publisher:Vintage Publishing
Imprint:Vintage
Format:Paperback
Number of Pages:720
Release Date:2 January 2015
Weight:514g
Dimensions:199mm x 134mm x 38mm
What They're Saying

Critics Review

Short gives an extremely vivid account of the way Mitterrand exercised the office of president – Jonathan Derbyshire * Prospect *
An excellent new book… The story of the rebuilding of France after the war in an equally embittered and divided republic – Andrew Adonis * New Statesman *
A compelling read for anyone interested in international power politics – Richard Davenport-Hines * Daily Telegraph *
[Mitterrand] remains an endlessly fascinating figure, and Philip Short tells the story expertly in this deeply researched and marvellously readable biography – David A. Bell * Guardian *
A stunningly detailed investigation of a monumental political character – Robert Collins * Sunday Times *
Philip Short, a former Paris correspondent for the BBC, makes excellent use of new interviews with Mitterrand’s family to portray a flawed hero described by his own doctor as a mixture of “Machiavelli, Don Corleone, Casanova and the Little Prince”. * Sunday Business Post *
Well-rounded – Tobias Grey * Spectator *
Excellent – Patrick Marnham * Mail on Sunday *
I don’t know why this extremely interesting book has not been more noticed… [A] gripping account – Charles Moore * Daily Telegraph *
A riveting read for anyone interested in political psychology – Matthew Campbell * Sunday Times *

About The Author

Philip Short

Philip Short is the author of acclaimed biographies of Pol Pot and Mao Zedong. He worked for ten years as the BBC’s Paris correspondent and lives in France.

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