Want to know what books Sudhir Hazareesingh recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Sudhir Hazareesingh's favorite book recommendations of all time.
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Sudhir Hazareesingh | 4.50
Sudhir HazareesinghWell, it all started with Napoleon. I wrote a book called The Legend of Napoleon, which basically was about how the Emperor came to be celebrated as a national hero by the French people after his death. And it led me to see that his celebrity ended, in a way, in the 20th century when de Gaulle replaced Napoleon in the French hit parade of historical figures. And I wanted to explore this idea of... (Source)
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In this elegant and original book, Regis Debray argues that for two hundred years the defeats of the left have stemmed from its failure to understand what it likes to call the ‘national question’, while equally its successes have grown from an unacknowledged liaison with the ‘unreal reality’ of the nation.
According to Debray, Charles DE Gaulle was no narrow nationalist. By grounding his actions in a generous philosophy of the nation he was able to wed boldness to insight: on 14 June 1940 he appointed himself leader of the free French, disregarding the overwhelming parliamentary... more In this elegant and original book, Regis Debray argues that for two hundred years the defeats of the left have stemmed from its failure to understand what it likes to call the ‘national question’, while equally its successes have grown from an unacknowledged liaison with the ‘unreal reality’ of the nation.
According to Debray, Charles DE Gaulle was no narrow nationalist. By grounding his actions in a generous philosophy of the nation he was able to wed boldness to insight: on 14 June 1940 he appointed himself leader of the free French, disregarding the overwhelming parliamentary and legal mandate according to Petain. This intuitive action was to be resoundingly vindicated in the resistance and liberation of France.
This study of De Gaulle is offered as an indictment of the shallowness of contemporary politics in the West. For Debray, De Gaulle is not only the last statesman in the classic mould, he is also the first to anticipate the politics of the twenty-first century. De Gaulle’s aloofness from the media and disdain for the base arts of electioneering have an exemplary quality, Debray believes, reaffirming the vocation of political leadership as something other than adapting to popular preferences or allowing professional communicators and opinion pollsters to set every agenda. less Sudhir HazareesinghThe reason I chose this book is that Debray is one of the most eminent left-wing intellectuals alive now in France. He comes from a very radical tradition: in the 1960s he trained with Fidel Castro, he went and fought with Che Guevara in the jungles of Bolivia… His left-wing credentials are absolutely impeccable, and yet in 1990, the centenary year of de Gaulle’s birth, he brings out this book in... (Source)
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3
Joseph Kessel, Rainer J. Hanshe, Stuart Kendall | 4.59
Originally published in Algiers in 1943, Joseph Kessel's Army of Shadows is one of the first books to have been written about the French Resistance. Now available in paperback, Contra Mundum Press is proud to present the first new translation in over 70 years, and the first edition since Jean-Pierre Melville's iconic 1969 film.
"What, then, when it comes to recounting the story of France, an obscure, secret France, which is new to its friends, its enemies, and new especially to itself? France no longer has bread, wine, fire. But mainly it no longer has any... more Originally published in Algiers in 1943, Joseph Kessel's Army of Shadows is one of the first books to have been written about the French Resistance. Now available in paperback, Contra Mundum Press is proud to present the first new translation in over 70 years, and the first edition since Jean-Pierre Melville's iconic 1969 film.
"What, then, when it comes to recounting the story of France, an obscure, secret France, which is new to its friends, its enemies, and new especially to itself? France no longer has bread, wine, fire. But mainly it no longer has any laws. Civil disobedience, individual or organized rebellion, have become duties to the fatherland. The national hero is the clandestine man, the outlaw. Nothing about the order imposed by the enemy and by the Marshal is valid. Nothing counts. Nothing is true any more. One changes home, name, every day. Officials and police officers are helping insurgents. One finds accomplices even in ministries. Prisons, getaways, tortures, bombings, scuffles. One dies and kills as if it's natural. France lives, bleeds, in all its depths. It is toward the shadow that its true and unknown face is turned. In the catacombs of revolt, people create their own light and find their own law. Never has France waged a nobler and more beautiful war than in the basements where it prints its free newspapers, in its nocturnal lands, and in its secret coves where it received its free friends and from where its children set out, in torture cells where, despite tongs, red-hot pins, and crushed bones, the French died as free men." less Sudhir HazareesinghWell, Kessel was a writer and war correspondent who, when France was defeated in 1940, went over to London and joined the Gaullist Resistance, the Free French. Army of Shadows, written in 1943, is the book that made him famous and is still regarded as one of the greatest novels about the Resistance. The other thing for which he’ll always be remembered is the hymn of the Resistance, ‘Le Chant des... (Source)
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4
Originally three separate volumes covering three distinct periods, this single edition encompasses all of de Gaulle's personal writings from the fall of France in 1940 to the aftermath of the war in 1946. The first section, "The Call to Honor", recounts the confusion and despair triggered by Hitler's blitzkrieg takeover of France. The second section, "Unity" describes de Gaulle's struggles to rally the Free French in Africa and in underground movements throughout Europe, his bitter conflict with the Vichy puppet regime ruling occupied France, and his cooperation with the Allied powers.... more Originally three separate volumes covering three distinct periods, this single edition encompasses all of de Gaulle's personal writings from the fall of France in 1940 to the aftermath of the war in 1946. The first section, "The Call to Honor", recounts the confusion and despair triggered by Hitler's blitzkrieg takeover of France. The second section, "Unity" describes de Gaulle's struggles to rally the Free French in Africa and in underground movements throughout Europe, his bitter conflict with the Vichy puppet regime ruling occupied France, and his cooperation with the Allied powers. "Salvation", the final installment, chronicles the turning of the tide of war against Nazi Germany, de Gaulle's triumphant return to France, and the reincarnation of the French Republic as a major international presence. less Sudhir HazareesinghThere are three volumes, and they’re very readable. There are portraits in there of all the great characters de Gaulle encountered – Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt. (Source)
Julian JacksonDe Gaulle wrote his memoirs in the 1950s when he was out of power. He’s writing them for a very explicit purpose, which is the creation of his own legend. (Source)
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5
This is a magisterial, sweeping biography of one of the great leaders of the 20th century - General Charles De Gaulle. more This is a magisterial, sweeping biography of one of the great leaders of the 20th century - General Charles De Gaulle. less 
Richard HarriesThe reason I’m interested in this book is because de Gaulle offers a particular model of leadership – very autocratic and yet a leadership that saved France on at least two occasions. (Source)
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