In 1940 he fought against, but could not prevent, the greatest humiliation in the history of the France he loved so dearly. How did Charles De Gaulle recover from this? How did he preserve the spirit of France? Then help liberate his nation? Then go on to lead it as its most important political figure since his fellow general, Napoleon? We trace the growth of De Gaulle: the precocious child of nationalist, religious yet progressive. The lover of history who early on became suspicious of the British. The ambitious young officer with revolutionary views about mobile warfare in a country first mired in the trenches of the Western Front then blinded by the folly of the Maginot Line. We watch his impressive fight against the Germans in 1940 when his fellow commanders were shaming themselves. How he refused to accept the vile compromises of the Vichy regime. We witness his difficult co-existence with his British hosts. And his even stormier relationship with his American allies. We see his triumphant return to France. De Gaulle's proud personality and its effect on France's curious and complex post-war fortunes are scrutinized.
