The Resistance Years 1940-1944

It has often been said and written that the Resistance, by its clandestine nature, had left few archives. Yet new documents, regularly unearthed, continue to enrich its history. What were the first acts of refusal? How did the Resistance gradually take shape, moving from individual acts to collective action?

What ties did the internal Resistance fighters maintain with de Gaulle? Initiated in secret as early as June 1940, it managed to overcome divisions and unite, thanks in particular to the patient efforts of Jean Moulin, while asserting its undeniable pluralism. "Terrorists" in the eyes of the Nazis and the Vichy regime, the Resistance fighters displayed extraordinary courage. This fascinating work reveals the multiplicity of their actions, through networks, movements and maquis. Beyond the major figures, it restores their rightful place to the combatants who long remained anonymous, particularly the women without whom nothing would have been possible. But also to all those who, though belonging to no structured organisation, supported, aided and assisted the fighters in the shadows, thus helping to root the Resistance in society. More than 200 archival documents (correspondence, reports, drawings…), often unpublished, weave a new illustrated narrative of the "Resistance years".