France On the Brink: A Great Civilization Faces a New Century

by Jonathan Fenby

A modern history of postwar France documents its economic crises from its high unemployment rates to its ineffective government, noting the practices that have contributed to the nation's demise. Reprint. 10,000 first printing.

Genres: France, History, Nonfiction, European History, Politics

449 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Jonathan Fenby, CBE, has been the editor of The Observer and the South China Morning Post. He is currently China Director at the research service Trusted Sources.

Reviews

[Sandie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jonathan Fenby has covered France and its government and economy for fifty years. When the first edition of this book was released in 2000, it was a New York Times Book Of The Year. This second edition, written fourteen years later, updates the original book and looks at the current state of France.

Like many countries, France is struggling in the modern world with the globalization of economies. The number of individuals making their living on farms has decreased dramatically, and with that comes the struggle of villages and small towns. There are less manufacturing jobs, and one quarter of those employed work in government jobs. Unemployment is high and seems intractable. The government has given benefits such as the thirty-five hour workweek and then struggles to deal with the fallout of such policies as money to pay for them becomes scarcer.

The political landscape seems full of politicians who promise change and hope but then cannot deliver. Power moves from the conservative to the liberal but neither seems able to make a difference that the population can embrace. Fenby goes into great detail about the power struggles for the last fifteen years and the Presidents such as Chirac, Sarkozy and Hollande. Each is elected to great fanfare and then within months their approval ratings start to slip until they are defeated by the next politician to promise solutions.

Readers interested in France will find much of interest in this work. Fenby talks about the rise of ultra-right which bases its platform on anti-immigration policies as well as the food France is known for and the scandals that seem to be everyday fare. He covers the war years and France's treatment of the Jews in that time period. He talks about how the national symbols of France seem to be disappearing as it tries to reinvent itself to remain viable in the modern economy. In his long career covering France, Fenby worked as the bureau chief in France for the Economist and Reuters. He is married to a Frenchwoman and was made a Chevalier of the French Order Of Merit in 1990. This book is recommended for history readers and those interested in the world around them.

[William Guerrant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written and interesting, although regrettably imbalanced.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Long-time Economist and Times of London journalist Fenby, married to a Frenchwoman, spent many years prior to penning this tome of his studying and pondering all things culturally and politically French. And it clearly pays off.

Although much has changed with Sarkozy’s rise to the French Presidency in this first decade of the new century, the roots of French political and cultural life in this last century have never been better recounted. “Behind the Mask” is likely one of the most unnerving chapters as Fenby doesn’t shy away from revealing the deep and disturbing levels of anti-Semitism that often lies dormant in French society. He also doesn’t avoid discussing the inherent centripetal forces that exist in France that even today threatens its cohesion. (A country that allows both the National Front and militant Islam to publically express their hate rhetoric through the ballot box cannot stand united.)

Additionally, the adjoining chapters “Friends of Francois” and “A French Life” focus in on France’s last great political lion, Francois Mitterrand. And what a brilliantly conceived portrait does Fenby paint.

Naturally, I would love to know what he would have to say about France in this first decade of the new century – as this was published in the waning days of the twentieth century. Of course, there is always his next book to look forward to.

[Pinko Palest · Rating 1 out of 5]

finger wagging at the French, by an english author. Basically, why the French should be more like the Brits, more thatcherite, or at least more blairite. Funnily enough, it is now the French who are being led by a President who is quite neoliberal, and are the ones who are lecturing the Brits. All in all, a massive disappointment

[Scott Vizcarra · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was very interesting and got into all the nuances of the french mentality and the trivia of the french politians. Although I did learn much specifically about the french, it didn't change my opinion of them at all. The French are the French and I accept them for all that they are.

[Gavin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too recent to be history, too old and event-specific to be cultural criticism, too politics-focused to be deep. "Too detailed" is a good fault to have - but the endless parade of names and quirks and mistresses anchor it too much to the 90s and 00s. Still, it's a quick way to understand the roots of more recent French politics.

The central thesis - that France was finally losing its distinctiveness, that a hundred years of industrial policy / statism is finally starting to crack, that they're struggling unusually with multiculturalism - seems true. (France is now 10% foreign-born, compared to the UK's 16%. But it causes more strife there.) It's slightly comic to back this up with a string of stats about falling accordion sales, Gitanes sales, red wine sales, garlic sales - but at least it is true.

saying 'yes' to the market economy but 'no' to the market society

It's easy to tease them but it is a special place. The pinnacle of the top-down mind.

The state Post Office set up the world's first online data network for households, and the government took the lead in developing both the supersonic airliner and the high-speed train...

"the most important and most noble function which exists in the temporal sphere - I mean the service of the state" ...

Ho Chi Minh and Pol Pot studied Marxism and Leninism in France's capital. Deng Xiaoping joined the Chinese Communist Party there.

the French cavalry as being magnificent when it advances but ragged in retreat

I appreciate him reaching for statistics but don't appreciate them being Kaasian and presented, in almost all cases, without an international comparison or other sensemaking baseline. They're also presented in deadening quantity.

The 2014 update isn't horribly dated yet - he managed to get in Marine and her eerie respectability drive, and smartphones and vaping are there. Sadly there has since been a revolt of the public and a vibe shift; Fenby's horror at the cruelty of the Front ("the man who speaks for all that is irrational, extremist and xenophobic in the nation of liberty, equality, fraternity") is no longer en vogue and the Énarques are no longer assured power.

[Dirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best recap of French political history under the Fifth Republic till 2014
Urgently needed an updated version till 2023 to see if the advice proffered by the author coincides with the politics under Macron.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

review and give away at: http://booknerdloleotodo.blogspot.com

France on the Brink by Jonathan Fenby was a fascinating read. Although I think I'm pretty knowledgeable about current events and political situations there were many interesting things that I did not know about France, french culture and french people. I found this book to be very interesting and very informative. It's 400 plus pages so there is a wealth of information. What distinguished this book for me was the authors voice throughout. It felt like a very personal journey through France and its history.

Fenby deals with a lot of tough topics and he is very honest and candid about some of the aspects of France that aren't as glamorous as expected. I specifically fond it very interesting that such a high number of french people are looking to retire outside of France. The discontent with French politics was very interesting but I personally think that this discontentment could be shared with a large part of Europe. I found his portrait of Chirac to be very blunt and straightforward.

One of my favorite parts was the wealth of french culture and history, it was described with such richness that its easy to see why France is still revered. One aspect that I found a little surprising was the ethnic diversity and also some of the prejudices held. I found this to be a little surprising. If anyone is looking to learn and read about the current situation of french life this is a must read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned much more than I had expected.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was concerned a book about politics and the economy would be boring, but decided to take a chance because I love nonfiction and books about France. The first chapter almost made me give up on the book, with a disorganized overview of the contents of the book and a laundry-list of the things which make France great. I stuck it out though and if you’re someone interested in learning about modern France, I’d highly recommend you do the same. The author has collected many great stories of both historical events and his own experiences in France. He did a great job bringing France to life and made me very hungry reading about French cuisine.

I was initially dubious about the book’s organization by subject rather than chronology. Especially as someone not familiar with the history of France’s politics, it took me a little while to grasp the order of the events being discussed. By the middle of the book though, the references to the same events as they related to different subjects actually made it easier to learn from the book. The organization by subject also meant I could benefit more from the author’s grasp of the big picture of French politics and history. Had I simply read about the events in chronological order, I might never have gotten many of the author’s insights. Overall, I enjoyed this a lot and was surprised when the initially dry-appearing book made me laugh out loud at several of the author’s stories.

This review first published at Doing Dewey.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this totally updated edition of France on the Brink (which includes data about President Hollande), Jonathan Fenby tries to understand a country that may seem puzzling to many: it attracts millions of tourists every year, 84 millions in 2013, Americans have a very romantic a view about anything and everything French, yet at the same time France is experiencing “double-digit unemployment, a rampant extremist party of the far right and [they are] a people who reject the elite that has ruled them for decades” (p.x). The French are notoriously unhappy, despairing, and complaining about many things if not all, especially about their economy and their political leaders. To understand what’s going one, Fenby gives us a “portrait of France today and a longer-range account of the evolution of the country” (p.xi) since the 1950s.
VERDICT: Enjoying the beach in Southern France is fine. If you want to go deeper and start understanding the current social, economic, and political situation of that country, this is THE book you need to read.

read my extensive review with chapter per chapter presentation:
http://wordsandpeace.com/2014/08/06/b...

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Valuable coverage of how France has changed in the last forty years. Especially enjoyed the segments on country life and on culture. If you have ever wondered what is going on in the french psyche this book will clear up a lot of misconceptions. Style is engaging.

[Henry Levy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm still reading this book but I'll write a review when I finish it.

[Alyson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jonathan Fenby is clear in his political allegiance; France on the Brink provides a lot of insight into the machinations of Fifth Republic French politics, but what it does best is show its author's political biases.

It was an interesting read and provided me a lot of detail I previously had not known about the leaders (and wannabe leaders) of the 5th Republic. The writing was of a higher quality than your average history/politics book. But for someone trying to convince his readers that France needs to move forward and embrace a new world economy, he seems awfully stuck in his old-man ways. He glosses over all the negatives associated with his obviously preferred economic platform (privatization, straight capitalism, austerity measures) and only begrudgingly (and rarely) gives credit to any socialist-ish tendencies within the French economic system, constantly decrying it as a welfare state and the cause of all the malaise in France.

He clearly disapproves of workers rights, younger retirement ages, reduced working hours (even though he grudgingly admits that "the hourly productivity of French workers is good" (56), and regularly throws in snide evidence-less pokes at the 35 hour work week (eg, "the thirty-five hour working week introduced by the Socialist government of Lionel Jospin remains a drag on output and saddles companies with overtime payments."(54) --he has not and does not provide any evidence of this claim he states as fact, but instead goes for anecdotal humorous quotes made my millionaires to support his belief). He refers to "progress" as increasing the retirement age and selling off state-run moneymakers to private businesses (ask Chicago how well that works to close a deficit).

However, his book is almost as detailed as it is biased, and based on the evidence supplied by Mr. Fenby the more obvious conclusion is that near universal corruption (among politicians) and bureaucratic redundancies are more to blame than the 35 hour work week and corporate taxes.

His choices of description of the major players of the last 70 years is further evidence of this book's right-leaning bias: d'Estaing and Sarkozy had 'unfortunate' circumstances disrupt their terms, whereas Mitterand and Hollande are immoral and inept, respectively, and both 'ignored' the economic realities. The evidence presented, however, certainly makes a clear case that every single one of these men (and the few women mentioned) was/is corrupt, blatantly and knowingly manipulating the system and breaking the laws to increase either their money, their power, or (most often) both. The entire book practically screams that all of the politicians of the 5th Republic, from both sides, have significantly contributed to the problems in Modern France, and led to what he identifies (melodramatically) as the "brink" on which France is teetering. Despite his own 400+ pages of proof, he obviously thinks the protections for the workers and the politicians who claim to support them are what is really wrong with the country.

The organization of the books reduced its enjoyability a bit, as well. It feels like Fenby wanted to create a chronological history of France's political and economic woes, but instead it feels hastily slapped together at the last minute, occasionally trying too hard to be clever. He constantly says things like 'but we'll cover that in a chapter ahead' and 'as was made clear in previous chapters', but rarely does the promise or reminder feel fulfilled or complete. It is as though he cannot help himself, and regularly uses future events to explain past actions.

Another detractor is how hastily it seems to have been updated from it's original edition ten+ years earlier. He uses the same allegories, quotes, and comparisons over and over and over again --I'm assuming he forgot that he'd already used the Malade Imaginaire reference about 6 times in earlier chapters before overtly using it 3 more times in the final one. This repetitiveness happens a lot.

Mr Fenby preemptively defends his outsider status immediately, acknowledging that some will see him as an ignorant foreigner throwing mud at the french way of life and politics. He clearly has a good academic understanding and appreciation for French culture, but he certainly is (and comes across as) a foreign outsider, commentating on a political and cultural climate that he neither understands nor approves of. He may love the adorable little villages, and he has clearly interviewed and reported on some of the top power of the hexagon throughout the years,* but he does not respect the importance -and honestly impressive- role the people play in holding their governments accountable. He talks of the way the French will take to the streets in protest as though it is something to be ashamed of, and praises Germans for putting more faith in their leaders and quietly going about their daily lives. There is some true insight in this book, but as a reader you are yanked out of the moment and made to question all of his conclusions when struck by one of his out-of-sync assumptions about the way people/economies should behave.

I'll give him this, though. For all his blatant right-side-of-the-aisle bias, he is clearly anti-Le Pen and his (later her) racist, fascist party.

*He has peppered his book with "casual" mentions of his important interviews and published articles. He always tries to make it a "surprise" that the journalist he is describing is actually him.