This new introductory guide provides a succinct history of postwar France. Professor Stovall covers political, social and economic developments from the immediate postwar years and France's economic recovery up to the Mitterand era; including the rise of the far Right. He also he looks at French international relations; the new relations with Europe in the post-Soviet era, French-US relations and the relationship with her empire including the wars in Indochina and Algeria. The study is supported by chronologies, biographies of the key players and a guide to further reading.