The Maginot Line
A New History
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Yale University Press
Publishing:26th Aug '25
£30.00
This title is due to be published on 26th August, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
An authoritative and original history of the Maginot Line that reshapes our understanding of interwar France and the events of 1940
The Maginot Line was a marvel of 1930s engineering. The huge forts, up to eighty meters underground, contained hospitals, modern kitchens, telephone exchanges, and even electric trains. Kilometres of underground galleries led to casements hidden in the terrain, and turrets that rose from the ground to fire upon the enemy. The fortifications were invulnerable to the heaviest artillery and to chemical warfare.
Despite this extensive preparation, France fell to Germany in a little under six weeks. Eight decades on, the Maginot Line is still remembered as an expensively misguided response to obvious danger.
In this groundbreaking account, Kevin Passmore reevaluates the Maginot Line. He traces the controversies surrounding construction, the lives of the men who manned the forts, the impact on German-speaking inhabitants of the frontier, and the fight against espionage from within. Far from a backward step, the Maginot Line was an ambitious project of modernisation—one that was let down by strategic error and growing dissatisfaction with fortification.
“A fine and detailed reassessment of the infamous and much maligned Maginot Line. [Passmore] endeavours very successfully to put its construction into a broader socio-economic and cultural context.”—Anthony Tucker-Jones, History of War
“Passmore’s path breaking study explores the political, social and cultural dimensions of inter-war French defense policy to determine the why Maginot Line was built, how it was configured, and its role in shaping France’s 1940 defeat.”—Douglas Porch, author of The Path to Victory
“This masterful new history of the Maginot Line blends meticulous detail on military strategy with the creative replacing of these fortifications in their wider political, social, cultural, and environmental contexts. . . . A must-read for all interested in the military and political culture of the Third Republic and the Fall of France in 1940.”— Jessica Wardhaugh, author of Popular Theatre and Political Utopia in France, 1870–1940
“By treating the Maginot Line as a subject for proper historical study rather than as a courtroom for trying the case of French ‘decadence,’ Passmore shows its actual importance. This book is a superb blend of military, institutional, political, cultural, and social history.”—Leonard V. Smith, author of French Colonialism from the Ancien Régime to the Present
“Passmore leaves no stone unturned in his analysis of the military, political, and cultural significance of France’s plan to defend its eastern frontier between the wars. Brilliantly written, lucidly argued, and drawing on an astounding amount of research, the book is unassailable as a work of history.”—Chris Millington, author of The Invention of Terrorism in France, 1904-1939
"A captivating read. Passmore busts the myths around the Maginot Line in this gripping story of the early twentieth century"—Ludivine Broch, author of Ordinary Workers, Vichy and the Holocaust
ISBN: 9780300277043
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
512 pages