Voices from the Dark Years: The Truth About Occupied France 1940-1945 [Hardcover]

In this extensive work, Voices from the Dark Years by Douglas Boyd provides a new perspective to occupied France during World War II. Boyd has always had an interest in France and has written several other books on this subject in which he provides his own unique viewpoint. In this book, Boyd attempts to answer the question: "what was life really like in German occupied France?" He disputes the claim by many other historians that the French were either collaborators or members of the resistance. He argues that only one percent of French civilians were pro-German and about the same amount were pro-resistance. This, he believes, was the result of the French being more concerned with everyday life because of the importance of finding food and work (xiii).

Boyd attempts to write a complete account of occupied France that starts with the defeat of France in World War II and ends with liberation. In the beginning of the book, Boyd criticized the "Popular Front" for losing the war because he believes they were "pacifists." He also notes the fact that most of the French weapons were outdated and ninety percent of their artillery was from World War I (7). The failure of the Popular Front to modernize their military allowed Marshal Petain to come into power. Petain's policies would emphasize nationalism and religion in order to make France strong again.

France was in no position to return to its pre-war conditions. More than 2,500 bridges and 1,300 railroad stations were destroyed (76). Germany occupied the northern three-fifths of their land, which included most of France's industry, financial center, oil reserves, and mineral reserves (29). The French economy was severely weakened. Oil was not available to the general public anymore and bicycles became the main source of transportation. There was also a food shortage that limited French civilian's consumption to: horsemeat, fish, root vegetables, and bread that was redeemable through the use of coupons. In occupied France, the Nazis even set up soup kitchens in order to help the starving French civilians (39). As a consequence of the food restrictions, black markets started to emerge with higher than usual prices. The French franc declined by more than fifty percent of its value from 1940 to liberation (202). The author also mentions some of the Nazis' tyrannical behavior, which limited economic activity. The Nazis enacted curfews and taxes on the French civilians (79). They also discriminated against Jews by preventing them from working in any professions." (119).

Boyd explains the consequences of liberation. First he describes the beginning of liberation as anarchy because there was no form of a strong established government because Petain was removed from power without being replaced. Women were getting their heads shaved for having relationships with German soldiers and collaborators were either being captured or even murdered (258). After the French regained control over their nation, political officials such as Petain and Pierre Laval were put on trial for treason because of their roles of collaborating with the Nazis (271).

Although this book is a good book to begin with when studying occupied France, it has its weaknesses. There are times when the author needs to clarify his ideas. For example, he claims that Leon Trotsky was a friend of Pierre Laval, yet he does not explain what type of relationship this was and how this made the government suspicious of his behavior (58). The author also does not use a lot of new material. The majority of the material Boyd uses are from secondary sources and the primary sources he used have been used by past authors. Overall, Voices from the Dark Years is worth reading for anybody who wants a general understanding of occupied France, since it is one of the few books that offer an objective perspective.