Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #149911 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 208 pages

Synopsis
From 1940 to 1942, French secret agents arrested more than two thousand spies working for the Germans and executed several dozen of them - all despite the Vichy government's declared collaboration with the Third Reich. A previously untold chapter in the history of World War II, this duplicitous activity is the gripping subject of "The Hunt for Nazi Spies", a tautly narrated chronicle of the Vichy regime's attempts to maintain sovereignty while supporting its Nazi occupiers. Simon Kitson informs this remarkable story with findings from his investigation - the first by any historian - of thousands of Vichy documents seized in turn by the Nazis and the Soviets and returned to France only in the 1990s. His pioneering detective work uncovers a puzzling paradox: a French government that was hunting down left-wing activists and supporters of Charles de Gaulle's Free French forces was also working to undermine the influence of German spies who were pursuing the same Gaullists and resisters.

In light of this apparent contradiction, Kitson does not deny that Vichy France was committed to assisting the Nazi cause, but illuminates the complex agendas that characterized the collaboration and shows how it was possible to be both anti-German and anti-Gaullist. Combining nuanced conclusions with dramatic accounts of the lives of spies on both sides, "The Hunt for Nazi Spies" adds an important new dimension to our understanding of the French predicament under German occupation and the shadowy world of World War II espionage.

Customer Reviews

A breakthrough
This book brings a genuinely new picture to France during the Second World War. The central argument is that the Vichy government, whilst collaborating sincerely with the Germans, also engaged in a process of arresting German spies and indeed that around 40 of these were executed by Vichy's armed forces. The aim was to make sure that the government could centralise collaboration. In other words that individual initiatives of collaboration with the Germans emanating from private citizens were not well received by Petain's admininstration. This government engaged in a difficult balancing act between trying to preserve its own sovereignty, and therefore negotiating with the Germans from a position of strength, and sincerely collaborating with the occupier. It is a complicated story but one which Kitson tells expertly in a clear and readable style. If you're interested in Vichy France I expect you will love this book.

First class
I can only agree with what the previous reviewers have said. This is a first class book: readable, thought-provoking and very original.

Absorbing
As previous reviewers here have noted Kitson manages to pack in a lot of information in a short space. It would be utterly wrong to see this book as just about the battle between Secret Services: its message runs much deeper than that. It offers a new interpretation of the France's wartime 'Vichy' government.

Chapter one deals with the organisation of the German Secret Services operating in France and the policies pursued by the occupier.

Chapter two entitled 'Becoming a spy' explains the diverse motivations of the German agents.

Chapter three sets out the organisation of the French counter-espionage services underlining the dangers their personnel faced.

Chapter four entitled 'Secret Service Ambiguities' shows the complex attitudes of the French counter-espionage services who were hostile to the Allies but even more so to the axis. It explores their relationship to the Vichy government.

Chapter five 'Everyday counterespionage' outlines the techniques used by counter-espionage services. It is revealing about the input of the Vichy government to this process.

Chapter six 'The fate of the spies' was for me the most interesting. Most books on espionage pay little attention to the treatment of spies in prison. I found this particularly absorbing.

Chapter seven 'Understanding Vichy's policy' sets the whole question of counter-espionage in its political context. This offers a genuinely new interpretation of the Vichy government.

I had read the exceptionally positive reviews the book got in the press but until I picked up a copy I didn't realise just how absorbing it was.