The German occupation of France from 1940 to 1945 presented wrenching challenges for the nationrsquo;s artists and intellectuals. Some were able to flee the country; those who remainedmdash;including Gide and Ceacute;line; Picasso and Matisse; Cortot and Messiaen; and Cocteau and Gabinmdash;responded in various ways. This fascinating book is the first to provide a full account of how Francersquo;s artistic leaders coped under the crushing German presence. Some became heroes; others villains; most were simply survivors.Filled with anecdotes about the artists; composers; writers; filmmakers; and actors who lived through the years of occupation; the book illuminates the disconcerting experience of life and work within a cultural prison. Frederic Spotts uncovers Hitlerrsquo;s plan to pacify the French through an active cultural life; and examines the unexpected vibrancy of opera; ballet; painting; theater; and film in both the Occupied and Vichy Zones. In view of the longer-term goal to supplant French with German culture; Spotts offers moving insight into the predicament of French artists as they fought to preserve their countryrsquo;s cultural and national identity.
#2043067 in eBooks 1998-03-31 1994-04-30File Name: B001SEQSCQ
Review
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Missing some thingsBy adp113I bought this book thinking it was a history book told with photos and captions. What it turned out to be was more of a picture book about fire trucks. Missing were stories and photos of some of the most infamous fires in Reading history. I could not find a single reference to the firefighters who gave there lives; some of which did it as volunteers. Never mentioned was the Moss street fire of 1995 where almost every fire company in the county was called to action. Absent was the fatal arson at the YMCA in the mid 80s. For how many times Mt. Penn has been set ablaze I would have expected some more stories and photos than the one in the book.The authors seemed much more focused on mentioning every apparatus ever purchased for use in the city. How many shots of the 1959 Mack Maxim or 1956 Pirsch are needed? The book sure focused on the machines; and not the people that built fire companies and fought fires. Reading firefighting has a rich history that is older than the nation. I certainly think more of the book could have be focused on firefighters and the contribution they made to a growing industrial city. One last thing. Only one mention of one of the many private industrial fire brigades that operated in the city seems to show that these brigades were or are not valued by some...This book is more for firemen than it is for someone who wants to delve into history; unless its the history of the fire truck.Glad I spent the $20 on something local but let down by just what I got.
