Hello all,
Sorry if this falls outside the realms of the community rules, though I've read them I'm not sure if this counts or not. I'm currently undertaking dissertation research for my French degree, where I am looking into the work of American historian Robert O Paxton, and reaction surrounding his work, with a view to showing whether or not France's opinions have shifted towards the facts of the Vichy period. While I've been able to find plenty of reference to a great inital outcry against his work from mainly French commentators, I've yet to find any actual source material for this outcry. I keep hearing repeated reference to anger following the release of the French translation of his first book on the topic, ' Vichy France : Old Guard and New Order, 1940-1944'. What with university resources being limited in these troubling times (what with all the Covid), I'm quite desperately looking for any advice as to where I might be able to find sources on the matter. Any kind of negative opinion would be great, be it from newspapers or public figures.
I thank you all for any help you might be able to give!
I assume you've read Henry Rousso's The Vichy Syndrome? I'm looking through my notes on it now, and I can't cite anything specific, but I think he goes into some detail on debates over Paxton. Pierre Burin's La France à l'heure allemand might also be worth another look, since Burin is very much engaged with nuancing and developing Paxton's argument. I apologize I can't cite any specific primary sources, but I can look around. It's certainly the case that many French continued to believe that Pétain had been a shield against the Nazis. Have you looked through any conservative newspapers?
Best of luck!
The book is quite old at this point and using it as a secondary source base isnt exactly recommended, although if you are looking for primary sources he does cite a handful that would warrant a look over. If you are still adamant on accessing this title or others like it, I believe my colleges library has an electronic version of the book or similar books.
Just look up Hege Library, Guilford College and you should find the database.
Good luck working with Vichy, I started with Paxton some months ago while working on my dissertation.