The Occupation is the subject of a fascinating book currently in print, 'Marianne In Chains : In Search Of The German Occupation 1940-1945' by Robert Geldea ( Macmillan, 2002 ).

Geldea is currently Reader in Modern History at Oxford University, so is not a 'hack' writer. He quotes US historian Robert Paxton ( in 1972 ) calculating that at most 2% of the adult population of France was actively involved with Resistance activities during WWII. The popular picture of the whole of France living in terror of the jackboot is not, it seems, realistic.

Geldea discovered that many archives had been 'altered' under the post-war De Gaulle governments to , er, emphasize the role of the Resistance.

Prior to Barbarossa, the Germans ruled France by a process of 'negotiated collaboration'; things changed post-Barbarossa partly due to increased Communist activity but mainly because the Germans began to make harsh demands on French industry/manpower to cope with the needs of the Eastern Front.

It's a very interesting and well-written book ; I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson