The History of French Colonial Policy, 1870-1925

Book excerpt: Published in 1963: The author gives a clear and accurate account of the immense development of France as a colonial power which, in an incredibly short space of time, was to control one third of Africa. He drew his material not only from the scanty formal literature then available, but also by carefully evaluating and selecting from large mass of controversial material to be found in deliberate propaganda, parliamentary debates, and the often suspect offical documentation.