At the Heart of a Tiger: Clemenceau and His World 1841-1929

by Gregor Dallas

A biography of the great French leader sketches the many events that shaped Clemenceau's outlook and personality, preparing him to lead the Allied forces to victory during World War I. By the author of The Imperfect Peasant Economy.

Genres: Biography, World War I, France

620 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Gregor Dallas attended Sherborne School in Dorset, received a BA at the University of California at Berkeley and a PhD at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Reviews

[Mikey B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is well and descriptively written, although at times not easy to read. There would seem to be little on Clemenceau’s personal life that is known – so much of this book is filled with historical settings. There are times, when reading, that it almost seems like there is a novel ready to jump out of the biography. Sometimes several pages go by with hardly a mention of the main character. Also there is a lot of name-dropping which can be irritating if one is not familiar with French history. The latter half of the biography does a marvelous job starting with the Dreyfus trial and then World War I and the subsequent Versailles Treaty. Clemenceau was retrospectively correct in fearing a German resurgence. France suffered more than any other country in World War I and was never recompensed either by Germany for the destruction it caused on French soil or by its’ allies Britain and the U.S.A. for failing to protect France from the German menace. This is not to excuse France from playing an active role in its’ ultimate self-destruction in 1940.
Clemenceau was France’s strong man after 1900, if only France had someone similar in the 1930’s history would have been different – of course it had DeGaulle after 1940. And a French strong man is so much more humanitarian than similar counterparts in other European countries (such as Germany, the Soviet Union or Italy).
Mr. Dallas is obviously in love with France and this does much credit to the biography.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the end, when Clemenceau is sitting, crying before Monet, we understand France.