In Pursuit of the People: Political Culture in France, 1934-9

'The people' are one of the most controversial characters in modern French history: irrupting into the streets in revolutions, riots, and demonstrations, they have been adulated as a sovereign power and decried as an unruly mob. In the 1930s, as European politics was dramatically transformed by leaders and parties vaunting their 'popular' credentials, the fate of France hung in the balance, with political leagues and parties battling to imagine and realize a united popular community. How were 'the people' pursued? How could the antagonistic crowd, workers, or electorate be transformed into a reconciled community?