Hegemonie Ou Declin de La France ?: La Fabrication D'Un Mythe National

France in decline, France collapsing, France recovering, France leading the way : which of these contrasting images of France is the one the world really perceives ? Whether alarmist or nostalgic, countless metaphors describe “a France in decline.” However, figures which would provide objectively quantify yesterday’s splendour and today’s decline are not as convincing. France of yesteryear, which considered itself powerful, was a moderately developed country, crippled by archaic customs, while contemporary France is a high-performing nation with remarkable technology and one of the highest life expectancy rates in the world. How did such myths take shape – that of the current decline and that of the past hegemony – which have periodically induced the population to seek out a Saviour among figures ranging from Napoleon III to General de Gaulle and Nicolas Sarkozy ? By avoiding any note of complacency and refusing to bend history to suit his purpose, Lucian Boia provides readers with uncompromising and impartial insights into historians’ debates, and closely examines the position of France in the European and global hierarchy, from the Ancien Régime to the Fifth Republic.