What was life really like in German-occupied France during the Second World War? Douglas Boyd paints the clearest picture yet, using hitherto unpublished first-person accounts of ordinary men and women who lived through this extraordinary and dangerous time, when a few made fortunes, but most went cold and hungry. Less than 1 per cent of the French was pro-German. Is it pure coincidence that the same percentage actively resisted the Germans despite knowing that, if caught, their husbands, wives and children were considered equally culpable under the brutal Teutonic principle of Sippenhaft - guilt by association? Using new, meticulously researched material, Douglas Boyd tells an enthralling and sometimes chilling narrative history of the Occupation, as lived by the French people. It is a record of great heroism and ultimate cruelty. Read it and ask yourself, 'How would I have reacted, living in Occupied France?' The answer may surprise you.
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About the Author
DOUGLAS BOYD's lifelong interest in history first took a professional turn in the documentary reconstructions scripted and directed by him during his years as a BBC TV producer. He has been a full-time author since making his home in south-west France 28 years ago. His published work includes Eleanor (2003) and The Legion (2005) for Sutton.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Any review I make would be somewhat biased, because I know the part of the southwest of France where Boyd has collected some of his accounts rather well.
But aside from that, it is a very useful account of the Petain era which clarifies the very complex relationship between the various parties - the Nazi occupiers, the Vichy government, the squabbling resistance factions, the Free French forces during the dark years, and it sheds useful light on the way prewar French government worked. The writing style is somewhat jerky - it sometimes moves too rapidly from one subject to another - but that apart, I recommend it - as much as anything because it has at least some focus on the ordinary people of provincial France.
But aside from that, it is a very useful account of the Petain era which clarifies the very complex relationship between the various parties - the Nazi occupiers, the Vichy government, the squabbling resistance factions, the Free French forces during the dark years, and it sheds useful light on the way prewar French government worked. The writing style is somewhat jerky - it sometimes moves too rapidly from one subject to another - but that apart, I recommend it - as much as anything because it has at least some focus on the ordinary people of provincial France.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Tony Hip
Format:Hardcover
For a long time I have been searching for a book that covers the era of Petain and Vichy France and this is nearly it.Douglas Boyd tends to lead you up a cul-de-sac and leave you there but until he either clarifies his writing style or a better version comes along this will have to do.Having said that this does explain much of what until now has been 'unspoken of /hidden' by French historians and writers. It is perhaps short of relevant photographs and tends to rely on 'stock' prints rather than new material, which is available, if you know who to ask.I would have given it 3 1/2 stars but there was no option for that and in view of the fact that it does try to answer the questions I wanted answers to I gave it 4.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Voices from the Dark Years:Truth About Occupied France 1940-1945 by Douglas Boyd
26 Dec 2012
By B. F. Orme
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
A factual book which met my needs totally. It is a book that deserves to be widely read, preserved and publicised. It is an accurate history of how things really were, as opposed to how, in my case, successive UK Governments wished me to believe they were. It is enlightening, interesting and enriching.
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