Strange Defeat: A Statement of Evidence Written in 1940

Marc Bloc, the world renowned historian, fought in both world wars and in 1942 at age 50, he became active in the French Resistance. Two years later he was caught by the Germans, tortured and executed. This book, left in draft, is a moving document and a penetrating analysis of the disaster he witnessed firsthand. Though written early in the Occupation of France, it is free from bitternesss and recrimination, and its detailed criticism of the French disaster is conducted throughout with detachment and intellectual integrity.