Defying Vichy: British agents and the French Resistance in South-West France
Robert Pike
- Regions:
- Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Hereford, West Mids, Staffordshire, Shropshire, South East, South West, East of England, London, East Midlands, Yorkshire & Humber, North West, North East, Wales
- Notice Period:
- Short (maybe less than one month's notice)
- Type:
- Professional
- Fee:
- Paid: Starting at £65 + expenses
- Category:
- History
- Updated:
- 25th November 2024
- Tagged:
- French Resistance | World War 2 | World War 2 / Spies | Second World War
"Using the pioneer work of local French historians in tracking down ex-Resisters, and doing his own interviews, Robert Pike has produced a book on the largely rural Dordogne full of specific names and places and pulsating with action and detailed stories." Professor Rod Kedward, Author of La Vie en Bleu. France and the French since 1900, and In Search of the Maquis, Rural Resistance in Southern France 1942-1944.
A talk about my research on agents sent by Special Operations Executive (SOE) F-section to South West France.
"By focusing on a single area of France - the Dordogne - Robert Pike has not only produced a meticulously researched and valuable contribution to the history of the German occupation, but a reminder of how courageously and selflessly many ordinary French men and women behaved" Caroline Moorehead, author of Village of Secrets and A Train in Winter
Views: 94 | Enquiries: 0About Robert Pike
I have authored two books about the Second World War and the occupation in France. Defying Vichy: Blood, Fear and French Resistance (The History Press, 2018) and Silent Village: The Life and Death of Oradour-sur-Glane ( The History Press, 2021) published in French as Oradour s'est tu: Le destin tragique d'un village français 10 juin 1944 (Flammarion,2024) . I gained an ESRC-funded MSc at Cardiff in 2021 with a dissertation titled 'From pragmatism to protection: How and why were anti-Semitic narratives contested in a semi-rural region of Vichy France?'. I have written articles for History Today and BBC Magazine, contributed to others in The Telegraph and The Daily Mail (UK), and The Washington Post and New York Times (US). My work on Oradour-sur-Glane has led to television appearances on France 2 and M6. I have given conferences in Limoges and Oradour-sur-Glane, and many venues in the UK including the Gloucester History Festival. I have also contributed papers to conferences about resistance at Oxford University and Cardiff University. www.robertpike.co.uk
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