[Pablo Pérez López, Charles de Gaulle, el estadista rebelde (Ciudadela: Madrid, 2020), 218 pp.]
review / Jairo Císcar
Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the death of Charles de Gaulle and the 75th anniversary of the Allied victory in World War II, Professor Pablo Pérez López publishes this new biography of "the most illustrious of the French", as he is sometimes referred to. When one undertakes the writing of a biography, and even more so when it is about a character about whom an infinite number of books and articles have been written, one runs the risk of becoming diluted in what has gone before and not contributing anything new. However, this volume presents the character from a different perspective: his rebelliousness. Rebelliousness understood as a struggle for what is believed to be just, as an active nonconformism that pushes to overcome mediocrity, as love and service to France in its darkest moments. Precisely, I believe that this is one of the greatest achievements of the book: to present, in barely 200 pages and with a kind and direct style, a new portrait of the French general, who is praised -beyond the excusable chiaroscuros of every person- as a model to follow and an example of bravery that counts with full actuality.
The book presents De Gaulle's life chronologically, from his childhood to his death. It is essential, in order to understand the great man he would later become, to analyze his early life. We are presented with a restless and dreamy young man, a devout Christian from a very early age. A young man who, at the age of 14, discovered a vocation, that of military life, which would mark his whole life and the lives of millions of his compatriots, and who would apply himself to it to the point of becoming a leader A . Also noteworthy in the book is the extensive use of passages from his memoirs or handwritten texts of the protagonist, which reveal the most unknown facet of the character: his psyche, his love, his devotion, his rebelliousness. Because it must be emphasized that sample is a self-conscious (but not overbearing) De Gaulle who is clear that he has a mission statement.
We soon move on to introduce the then captain, who stood out during the Great War for his wise analysis and foresight, whose love for France never clouded his judgment when it came to pointing out his own and others' failures. A young man who, despite the humiliation of being taken prisoner (despite his heroic efforts that earned him the Legion of Honor), never ceased to learn and examine the enemy, taking advantage of every moment of his 32 months of captivity.
His evolution is followed after the Great War, already as a promising member of Petáin's entourage. But not everything is success. De Gaulle's life is traced in the greatness of men who know how to overcome difficulties. Perhaps the most special, and where his true character is appreciated, is in the life of his daughter Anne, who suffered from Down syndrome, and with whom De Gaulle developed an extraordinary bond and closeness. It was with her that the thoughtful general dressed as an affable and affectionate father.
This training of his character seems to me essential to understand the rest of the book, and therefore the rest of his life. Without wanting to end up making a complete summary of the volume (which, as mentioned above, covers his entire life, with special and necessary emphasis on his "political life"), I felt it necessary to reflect the singular proposal and goal of this book, which is none other than to show that more unknown side of the French general, that rebelliousness and nonconformism that pushed him to have a very important weight in the creation of the current form of the French Republic and whose imprint, 50 years after his death, is still alive in Europe and in French politics.
Personally, I was very attracted to the style and organization of the writing. It makes the proposal enjoyable and easy to read, while at the same time a very serious and profound work , which invites constant reflection. sample the intimacy and loneliness of a man faced with the incomprehension of his contemporaries, with respect to whom he was always ahead. A man who, in final, always put the greater good, his beloved France, before his own good. An expert tankman who knew how to lead his country in such different moments: the Free French government in London, the parade on the Champs Elysées, the revolt of Algiers, the birth of the Fifth French Republic, May '68 and his last resignation, as a man of honor, after losing the referendum on the Senate and the regions that he called, in one of his last acts of rebellion, against all his advisors.
Finally, De Gaulle was a rebel until death, refusing any state funeral and resting, together with his beloved daughter, in a small French village. His tombstone - which simply reads: Charles de Gaulle, 1890-1970 - merely shows his final rebellion. The man died, but the myth was born.
