Sign-In
Cart
The Fall of France: How Europe's Strongest Army Collapsed in Six Weeks
Paperback
French HistoryInternational RelationsWorld War II
ISBN13: 9789347436611
Publisher: Vij Books
Published: Feb 20 2026
Pages: 228
Weight: 0.68
Height: 0.52 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
How does a state that survived Verdun and the Somme fall in a matter of weeks? Why did Europe place such faith in France as a continental shield, only to watch German armour reach the Channel in a single campaign? This book follows those six weeks in 1940 from calm expectation to stunned collapse.
Readers are taken through plans, personalities, and battlefield realities to understand the true shape of the fall of france 1940. The narrative explains how the Manstein plan strategy emerged, why Allied leaders misjudged the Ardennes Offensive, and what actually happened along the Maginot Line, reality - far from the lazy caricature of a nation hiding behind concrete. It places the Battle of France within the wider story of World War II in Europe, from the BEF's narrow escape to the first stirrings of Vichy and Free France.
Rather than celebrating or condemning, the book offers a clear-eyed examination of the French army's collapse and recovery. It is written for readers who enjoy a serious military history book that still moves, and for anyone who wants to know whether defeat was truly inevitable. By the end, the campaign no longer looks like a simple morality tale about courage and cowardice, but a warning about how institutions, ideas, and leaders can fail under pressure.
Also in
French History
Art of the Defeat: France 1940-1944
Laurence Bertrand Dorleac (author)
Jane Marie Todd (translator)
Hardcover
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
Purnell, Sonia
Hardcover
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
Purnell, Sonia
Paperback
The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland
Young, Michelle
Hardcover
Wine and War: The French, the Nazis, and the Battle for France's Greatest Treasure
Kladstrup, Petie
Kladstrup, Donald
Paperback
The Hotel on Place Vendome: Life, Death, and Betrayal at the Hotel Ritz in Paris
Mazzeo, Tilar J.
Paperback
The Dark Side of France: A History of the French Far Right from the 1890s to the Present
O'Doherty, Enda
Hardcover
The First Emancipation: The Forgotten History of Abolition in Revolutionary France
Popkin, Jeremy D.
Hardcover
The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland
Young, Michelle
Paperback
Josephine Baker's Secret War: The African American Star Who Fought for France and Freedom
Diamond, Hanna
Hardcover
Beyond the Ocean: France and the Atlantic World from the Crusades to the Age of Revolutions
Hodson, Christopher
Rushforth, Brett
Hardcover
A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France
Moorehead, Caroline
Paperback
A Bite-Sized History of France: Gastronomic Tales of Revolution, War, and Enlightenment
Mitchell, Jeni
Hénaut, Stéphane
Paperback
The Last Empress of France: The Rebellious Life of Eugénie de Montijo
Resnick, Evelyne
Kladstrup, Petie
Hardcover
The People's Justice: Revolutionary Law and the Founding of the French Republic
Hesse, Carla
Hardcover
And There Was Light: The Extraordinary Memoir of a Blind Hero of the French Resistance in World War II
Lusseyran, Jacques
Paperback
Poilu: The World War I Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker, 1914-1918
Barthas, Louis
Paperback
The Leopard in the Garden: Animal and Human Lives in Paris at the First Public Zoo of the Modern Era
Burkhardt, Richard W., Jr.
Hardcover
The Napoleonic Wars: An Enthralling Guide to Global Conflict, Revolutionary Tactics, and the Empire's Expansion
Wellman, Billy
Hardcover
From Occupation to Integration: Recivilizing the French Zone of Post-Nazi Germany, 1945-1955
Flanagan, Drew
Hardcover
The First Total War: Napoleon's Europe and the Birth of Warfare as We Know It
Bell, David A.
Paperback
Dancing to the Precipice: The Life of Lucie de la Tour Du Pin, Eyewitness to an Era
Moorehead, Caroline
Paperback
Devil's Guard: The Fascinating, True Story of the French Foreign Legion's Nazi Battalion
Elford, George R.
Paperback
Passionate Minds: Emilie du Chatelet, Voltaire, and the Great Love Affair of the Enlightenment
Bodanis, David
Paperback
Six Armies in Normandy: From D-Day to the Liberation of Paris; June 6 - Aug. 5, 1944; Revised
Keegan, John
Paperback
From Ancient Gaul to Canada: A Trip Through the Enchanting History of French Canadians
Kish, Dennis
Paperback
Fashion Victims: Dress at the Court of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette
Chrisman-Campbell, Kimberly
Paperback
Who Will Rescue Us?: The Story of the Jewish Children Who Fled to France and America During the Holocaust
Hobson Faure, Laura
Hardcover
The Mapmaker's Wife: A True Tale of Love, Murder, and Survival in the Amazon
Whitaker, Robert
Paperback
City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris
Tucker, Holly
Paperback
The Collapse of the Third Republic: An Inquiry into the Fall of France in 1940
Shirer, William L.
Paperback
Napoleon's Letters to Josephine, 1796-1812: Complete and Unabridged (Warbler Classics Annotated Edition)
Bonaparte, Napoleon
Paperback
A Good Place to Hide: How One French Community Saved Thousands of Lives in World War II
Grose, Peter
Paperback
Matriarchal Societies of the Past and the Rise of Patriarchy: West Asia and Europe
Goettner-Abendroth, Heide
Hardcover
A Protestant Air: Gide, Sartre, Barthes, and the Religion of Literary Modernity
Fauré-Bellaïche, Clémentine
Paperback
The Story of Modern France: The Kings, the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars and the Establishment of Democracy and Liberty
Guerber, Hélène Adeline
Paperback
Herald of a Restless World: How Henri Bergson Brought Philosophy to the People
Herring, Emily
Hardcover
French Revolution: A Captivating Guide to the French Revolution, the Life of Marie Antoinette and the Impact Made by Napoleon Bonaparte
History, Captivating
Hardcover
Society and Culture in Early Modern France: Eight Essays by Natalie Zemon Davis
Davis, Natalie Zemon
Paperback