The Forgotten French: Exiles in the British Isles, 1940-44 - Book Review

Contemporary Review, Jan, 2004

The Forgotten French: Exiles in the British Isles, 1940-44. Nicholas Atkin. Manchester University Press. [pounds sterling]45.00. 304 pages. ISBN 0-7190-6438-4. The author is keen to point out that this study is not about de Gaulle, the Free French forces or the secret negotiations between the Foreign Office and the Vichy regime between 1940-42.

It is, rather, 'an exploration of the lives of those French men, women and children who discovered themselves ... on British shores in May-June 1940', a relatively small group of civilians who, in the main, had escaped France, had lived in Britain before 1939 or were stranded servicemen. By examining these people's daily lives Mr. Atkin points out that, whilst average British people were often welcoming, government officials were far less so. He also shows that it is wrong to say that these Frenchmen were either homogenous or that they wholeheartedly supported de Gaulle and his Free French movement. They did not. By looking at this largely ignored group Mr. Atkin gives us a fresh look at France herself during the war. He also shows that the exiled French were often not very good guests. This is an intriguing study that will do much to broaden our understanding of the war and pari passu of France herself during the war and after.