GILDEA, Robert 1952-

PERSONAL: Born September 12, 1952, in Egham, England; son of Denis (a civil servant) and Hazel (a counselor) Gildea; married Lucy-Jean Lloyd, March 21, 1987; children: Rachel, Georgia, William. Education: Merton College, Oxford, B.A., M.A., 1974; attended St. Antony's College, Oxford, 1974-76; St. John's College, Oxford, D.Phil., 1978.

ADDRESSES: Office—Merton College, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 4JD, England; fax (0)186-528-6500. E-mail—robert.gildea@merton.ox.ac.uk.

CAREER: Educator and historian. Kings College, University of London, London, England, lecturer in history, 1978-79; Oxford University, Oxford, England, fellow and tutor in modern history at Merton College, 1979—, reader in modern history, 1996—.

MEMBER: Royal Historical Society (fellow), Chevalier dans L'Ordre des Palmes Academiques.

WRITINGS:

Education in Provincial France, 1800-1916, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1983.

Barricades and Borders: Europe, 1800-1916, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1987, 2nd edition, 1996.

France, 1870-1914, Longman (London, England), 1988, 2nd edition, 1996.

The Past in French History, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 1994.

France since 1945, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1996.

Marianne in Chains: In Search of the German Occupation, Pan Macmillan (London, England), 2002.

Contributor to periodicals, including London Sunday Times.

SIDELIGHTS: Robert Gildea is a history professor with expertise in French history who has published books on topics ranging from the history of education to French politics. He is especially interested in the "truth" with regard to the historical records of the country, and in his 1994 book, The Past in French History, examines how politics and memory combine to create history. Gildea discovered that history is a virtual battlefield to French people, with constant bickering between the political Left and Right about what truly happened.

In his Marianne in Chains: In Search of the German Occupation, Gildea seeks to further uncover the myths interwoven in France's history. The book focuses on the period of the German Occupation during World War II and focuses in detail on one small town in the Loire valley, Chinon. The author asserts that there have historically been three major myths about how the French people behaved during the Occupation: they were either resistors, collaborators, or victims. In order to research his subject, Gildea moved to France for a year, studied national and local archives, and conducted many interviews. In addition to creating a vivid day-to-day picture of life in Chinon during this period, Gildea succeeded in a "dismantling of the Resistance legend," according to Frank McLynn in New Statesman. Though many who lived through the Occupation claimed to have participated in the Resistance, this book clearly shows that most were simply trying to live their lives and survive on a day-to-day basis. As Gildea concludes in Marianne in Chains, no more that two percent of the population resisted, and McLynn cited as one of Gildea's best qualities as author "an acutely developed sense of historical irony." Patrick Marnham, writing for the Sunday Telegraph, added that "Gildea has succeeded in giving us a startlingly original view of what we thought was a familiar period." The critic went on to note that "the great strength of Marianne in Chains is its narrow focus." Douglas Johnson praised the work in his review for the Spectator as "a fine, thought-provoking book," and also called it "excellent and well-documented."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Daily Telegraph (London, England), April 6, 2002, David Horspool, "Occupational Hazzards."

European History Quarterly, October, 1997, Judith F. Stone, review of France since 1945, p. 596.

Historical Journal, March, 1998, D. L. L. Parry, review of The Past in French History, p. 311.

History Today, August, 1997, Martin Evans, review of France since 1945, p. 54; June, 2002, Martin Evans, review of Marianne in Chains, pp. 57-58.

New Statesman, April 1, 2002, Frank McLynn, review of Marianne in Chains, p. 54.

Spectator, March 23, 2002, Douglas Johnson, review of Marianne in Chains, p. 56.

Sunday Telegraph (London, England), March 17, 2002, Patrick Marnham, "Not As Noir As It Was Painted," p. 5; March 31, 2002, p. 15.

Times (London, England), April 24, 2002, M. R. D. Fox, "Subtle Lack of Resistance in a France Occupied by Appeasement," p. 17.

Times Literary Supplement, May 3, 2002, Richard Vinen, review of Marianne in Chains, p. 6.*