Bernard de Lattre. Au nom du père

Bernard de Lattre YOUNGEST MILITARY MEDAL RECIPIENT IN HISTORY, KILLED IN INDOCHINA

Au nom du père 

Born in 1928, Bernard de Lattre grew up in the shadow of an extraordinary father, Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, future Marshal of France. Yet very early on, he chose to forge his own
path: a volunteer at sixteen, decorated with the Médaille Militaire at seventeen, he embodied that youth which refused defeat and threw itself into the struggle.

From the Resistance to the campaign for France and then to Indochina, his meteoric career is inscribed in the tragic and glorious history of the French army in the twentieth century. A precocious hero, a passionate officer "without fear and without reproach," he fell at twenty-three in Tonkin, faithful to the end to his father's motto: "Ne pas subir."

Through letters, testimonies and previously unpublished archives, this book retraces the itinerary of a man who was far more than "the marshal's son." Bernard de Lattre's life was marked by the dramas and hopes of a sacrificed generation. Between filial love and national epic, this biography finally restores his rightful place to one of the most poignant figures in French military memory.

"A fine biography" - Figaro Magazine

"This fine book, drawing on a great many public and private archives and on multiple testimonies, pays him a well-deserved tribute. [...] A rare, gripping, edifying work in the most positive sense of the term." - Guerres et Conflits

"Drawing on previously unpublished family documents, the former officer turned deputy regional director of cultural affairs (DRAC) for the Grand Est delivers a work of superb quality, revealing the close and complicit relationship that father and son nurtured over the years. Captivating and compelling from beginning to end." - Armée & Défense

"This deeply moving and solidly documented biography, in particular thanks to a rich family correspondence, allows the reader to discern the progressive construction of Bernard's personality as well as his strongly marked character traits. A fine book, a tribute to a young officer who died too soon." - Revue d'Histoire Européenne