From the time he first uttered the words, "I am France," as a child, Charles de Gaulle spent his entire life serving his country. A brilliant speaker, an enthusiastic and devoted soldier and a learned and widely-read intellectual, de Gaulle had little time for the social niceties of life—he was too busy contemplating the world situation and France's place in it.

During World War I, de Gaulle rose from lieutenant to captain in the French army, and was subsequently captured by the Germans. When Hitler invaded France, de Gaulle went to England and began the resistance movement known as Fighting France. He rose from an impudent pretender to become the voice of hundreds of thousands of Frenchmen.

Le Grand Charles became the head of the Provisional Government of France after the war, but resigned in disgust as France's political parties began the struggle for power. When France's colonies began demanding independence, civil war hovered over the nation, and shouts of "de Gaulle, de Gaulle" were again heard. Once more, the relentless and eloquent de Gaulle rose to serve his country, and became prime minister, then president, of the Fifth Republic.

Bluntness was the General's style, and he continued to use it throughout the years as he publicly insulted the United States, made friends with communist nations and vetoed Great Britain's entry into the Common Market. By 1968, however, the French people were tired, bored and disillusioned. France was suddenly torn by student riots and a nationwide strike that threatened the entire structure of the state. In April, 1969, the president resigned. The final age of Charles de Gaulle was over.

Vain and pompous, but also courageous, a single-minded idealist with an unshakeable faith in the greatness of his nation, but also the supreme pragmatist who could easily change political course, Charles de Gaulle put his personal imprint on world affairs during three stormy decades.

From the dust jacket