19 October 1950. The war is not going to plan.
In Paris,politicians gather to discuss what to do about Indochina. The conflict is unpopular back home in France: too expensive,and too far away for the public to care. Withdrawal is not an option - a global power cannot surrender to an army of peasants - but victory is impossible without more soldiers and more money. The soldiers can be sourced from the colonies,but the money is out of the question. A solution needs to be found.
In this gripping and shocking novel,Eric Vuillard exposes the tangled web of politicians,bankers and titans of industry who all had a vested interest in France's prolonged presence in lands far from Paris. Skilfully skewering the guilty,Vuillard shows us how key players in conflicts throughout history often have a motivation even deeper and darker than nationalism and political ideology-greed.
As well as bringing scenes from the battlefields to life,Vuillard looks beyond this visceral reality on the ground to the cold calculations of the boardroom elite with the power to turn a military win or loss into their financial gain.
Short,sharp and brutal,An Honourable Exit is a journey behind closed doors to witness how history is really made.
Publisher: Pan MacmillanISBN: 9781035003976Number of pages: 192Weight: 302 gDimensions: 224 x 143 x 24 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'The challenge for Vuillard is to tear the rancid nostalgia for'the good old days'of the colonies,for the chic,elegant,confident and honourable colonial France,to pieces.'- La Croix
'Sparkling...By his pen,historical figures become beings of flesh and blood; we hear them breathe,we see them sweat.'- L'Histoire
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