The Embrace of Unreason: France, 1914-1940

8vo, Summary: Praise for Frederick Brown's THE EMBRACE OF UNREASON "Frederick Brown, accomplished literary biographer, has emerged as the leading English-language chronicler of this appalling but fascinating French story. . .Brilliant." -David A. Bell, New Republic "Brilliant.Splendid. This is terrific history. Brown is an incisive biographer, very good on politics, still better on culture, and anybody who is interested in France, or finds its politics difficult to understand, should read this book. What's more, he is a good storyteller, and each piece of the book is woven subtly into the whole. The idiosyncrasies of the French make sense, in Brown's hands, as he shows how the cultural divides animated, embittered, and in the end weakened France, without, however, ever endangering French belief in their own superiority. At once social history, cultural history, and a series of biographical sketches, Frederick Brown's book is both illuminating and a warning, and explains more about modern France and how it was formed than any other book of its short length and enviable readability." -Michael Korda, The Daily Beast "Brown is an accomplished and accessible cultural historian. His eye for the telling anecdote and colorful detail and seeming allergy to academic jargon make him an amiable and trustworthy guide to the dark side of the French psyche. The Embrace of Unreason is a lively and compelling work of cultural history. Readers will be grateful for Brown's sure-handed navigation through the thickets of French intellectual reaction.his fluent style and grasp of the period make it a pleasure to explore this unsettling terrain in his company." -Arthur Goldhammer, Bookforum "The author of Zola and Flaubert once again demonstrates his profound knowledge of French history, its people and their psyche.Francophiles will love this book.Read this illuminating book to see frightening similarities to the early years of the 21st century. The lies, innuendo, invented evidence and baseless arguments are all too familiar." - Kirkus "A riveting portrait of a society weakened by internal decay."