The Extreme Right in France, 1789 to the Present surveys the history of a fascinating but contentious political and intellectual tradition. Since 1789 the far right has been an important factor in French political life and in different eras has taken on a range of guises including traditionalism, ultra-royalism, radical nationalism, anti-Semitism and fascism.
This book is structured around the five main phases of extreme right activity, and the author explores key questions about each:
* Counter-revolution – what was the legacy of Joseph de Maistre’s writings?
* Anti-Third Republic protest – how was the 'new right’ of the 1880s and 1890s different from the 'old right’ of previous decades?
* Inter-war fascism – how should we characterise the phenomenon of fascisme française?
* Vichy – why did Pétain and Laval collaborate with the Nazis?
* The Post-war far right – what is the relationship between Poujadism, Algérie Française and Le Pen’s FN?