Free France's Lion: The Life of Philippe Leclerc, de Gaulle’s Greatest General

This is an important work, if for the simple reason there's scant coverage in our English language histories of Leclerc's role in WW II. Every inch the professional soldier and devoted family man, Leclerc was actually a pretty sophisticated individual. Dogged and single minded in his fight against the Germans, Leclerc had a realistic understanding of the complexities of post WW2 geopolitics--he was certainly sophisticated enough to grasp that Indochina was a black hole. Had he not died an early death in that plane crash, perhaps he would have persuaded his countrymen to take a more level-headed approach with respect to Algeria (then again, maybe not--they didn't take his advise on Indochina). If you're like me, where the WW II history you read in school focused almost exclusively on the Resistance as far as France's role was concerned, you'll find this book enlightening.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man is perhaps the most tribute one can give to the extraordinary life of this French hero known to the world by his pseudonym, Henri Leclerc. If ever the French needed a hero it was in 1940 as the country collapsed under the Wehrmacht onslaught and the British forces had to scramble back home from Dunkirk. Declaring himself for de Gaulle from “the first hour”, Leclerc went on to play a critical role in the African campaigns of WWII keeping hope alive for his countrymen and the democratic world. He carried the sword of liberty through Normandy, on to Paris and to the very borders of France at Strasbourg as he had sworn he would. His postwar career was less luminary as he had to provide military support to complex political agendas in countries yearning for their own freedom in the French colonies in Indochina and North Africa. William Mortimer has provided a lively and informative account of a true hero.

Enjoyed this book! Didn't know much about General Leclerc before I read this book. Very good biography! Does a superb job of explaining the role, & divisions between "Vichy France" & "Free France", & how this would affect the French Army in the Indochina & Algerian Wars following WWII, & how this would persist well into the 1960s.If you enjoy reading about WWII from the angle all participants , you'll enjoy this book!

I read the book because little seems to be available in English on the Free French movement, and it was interesting from that point of view.But I think it really needs further editing. The narrative is difficult to follow on occasion. The description of the first raid into southern Libya for instance left me puzzled as to what had gone on.And there was one sentence with two "he"s and one "him" which I eventually decided probably referred to three different individuals, though I couldn't be sure.Given the centrality of de Gaule to the story, it's puzzling there is no explanation of his decision to go to England. Instead we jump straight to his appeal to the French people of 18 June with no context given.

I found the book entertaining and enlightening, having first read a book about de Gaulle, in which I found a paucity of revelations about Leclerc. I did find some amusing misspellings (or using nearly the right word) and mistranslations ("ke cera, cera"!)in the book. The writing was good throughout and gave a gripping account of a very great man who sought to move the earth from his place to stand in the Sahara. This book is worthwhile to read and part of an interesting backdrop to my personal service in Vietnam. Having read Churchill, Lidell Hart, Masters, Von Mellenthin, Crisp, and a number of other authors on the Second World War, I appreciate this book. Criticisms of the book seem to be confined to sources used, but not of errors in fact. Thanks to the author.

Pages 173-220 are missing from the book - pages 125-172 repeat instead. (Please see the appended picture.) Amazon will not allow me to return the book because I bought it last year but didn't start reading it until this past week. This is more than a little disappointing - will certainly think twice before buying from this publisher again.

An excellent biography about a forgotten Military Figure Major General Phillippe Francois Marie comte de Hauteclocque or better know as Maj.Gen. Leclerc the commander of the famed 2nd Fr. Armd Div. of WW2.This book is simple excellent, it take a bit of getting use to the french terms and names being used. But once you get in to reading about the great figure it won't make a different.The impact this man made on the "Free French Forces" is unbeleivable. Take your time and read this book, I bought it on my kindle and i had a hard time putting it down I want to see what was next in his life.It is a very intest book to read, but as I have said before well worth it!!!!

From the free French beginning in 1940.to Hitler's eagles nest in 1945 le clec fought his way from Africa to Europe as de Gaulle favorite general until his tragic death in northern Africa certainly the best book in English you can find on France's lion.

Almost everyone knows of De Gaulle's wartime exploits and, as interested in French Second World War history as I am, I'm embarrassed to write that I for one know little beyond the 'headlines' of Phillippe Leclerc's brief life.This book ends that. Detailled but never getting bogged down, this is an excellent, well written and above all readable biography.If you are interested in the regular Free French Forces in the Second World War or just wonder what could have happened if Leclerc had made different choices then this book is for you.

nice to have an English writen version of this great French general.

It's a fair biography of General Leclerc. It is mostly based on secondary sources, french biographies and french veterans memoirs. This is not a problem for me as the author makes it clear and gives proper credit.However I have read all those books in french and more, so I didn't learn much, I expected more british primary sources. Still it is interesting to see an foreigner point of view, moreover there are not a lot of english book on this important WW2 character or on the French 2nd Armored division.There are a few things lost on translation when the author uses french expression and some typos. But overall he gives a balanced view on the character.The books is true to its subtitle, and focus on the main character and his men. But peoples interested in military history will find the combat description a bit vague and hard to follow. Beside being a charismatic leader, general Leclerc was also a careful planner and wit hthe help of his talented staff they devised sophisticated maneuvers. He excelled in his craft and his craft was warfare.There are some combat accounts in the official US army "green" books. But for those who read french, I recommend- General Jean Compagnon, "Leclerc", 2-08-066889-7,- Corbonnois & Godec, "L'odyssée de la colonne Leclerc", 978-2913903852, focused on the war in Africa from 40-43,- Fabrice Avoie, " Sarthe, août 1944 Histoire d'une libération" 978-2-9513369-1-9, very good account of the closing of the falaise pocket

I really enjoyed this one. It is nicely written and the subject matter is interesting. I've read a lot about Vichy and quite a bit about General de Gaulle and the Free French movement, so this book was a good follow on from earlier reading material.

OUTSTANDING BOOK.WELL PRESENTEDFIRST TIME I READ THE LIFE OFPHILIPPE LECLERC SO HONOREDBY AN ENGLISH WRITER..