A thorough history of WWII in southeastern France, featuring previously unseen sources and photographs.

During World War II three distinct forces opposed the Allies - Germany, Italy, and Japan. Few areas of the world experienced domination by more than a single one of these, but southeastern France - the region popularly known as the Riviera or Cote d'Azur - was one. For the first time, George G. Kundahl tells the raw and moving story of World War II on the French Riviera. Following a nine-month prelude, the reality of World War II burst onto the Riviera in June 1940 when the region had to defend itself against the Italian army and ended with a battle against German and Italian forces in April 1945, a period longer than any other part of France. Not only did inhabitants suffer through Italian Fascism and German Nazism but, as The Riviera at War details, also under a third hardship at times even more oppressive - the rule of Vichy France. Sharply intelligent, elegantly written and drawing from previously unseen archival documents and photographs, this is essential reading for anyone interested in wartime France.

"George Kundahl has provided us with a solid, absorbing, and lucid introduction to the complicated history of the various resistance groups in the South of France during and immediately after the Second World War." - Michigan War Studies Review