Charles Williams' major biography of Philippe Petain (1856-1951) tells of a peasant who became a Marshal of France and the Head of the Vichy State. A slow climb

From 1941 to 1943, the Jewish American writer and avant-garde icon Gertrude Stein translated for an American audience thirty-two speeches in which Marshal Phili

Few figures in modern French history have aroused more controversy than Marshal Philippe Pétain, who rose from obscurity to great fame in the First World War o

Pétain (1856-1951) remains one of the most controversial figures in the history of modern France. He was saviour of his country at Verdun in 1916 during the Fi