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Review title: France's problems explained
Product review: France's political class gets the pounding it deserves. The book is academically researched, so there are agreements with other analysts, and disagreements with others. The need for research can make some of the points several times, but overall, the origins of France's problems are clear.A word about "since 1980". As with any history, it has to stop at a date near the publication date. A 2012 reader can see that many of the problems covered have continued. They show no sign of abating, and the reasons are clear from the book's analysis. Recently there have been new events in France and Europe which are important to a 2012 reader, but necessarily absent from the research. Even so, the book's analysis of the political class "since 1980" lets a reader project some effects into the present. Eventually, historians will be able to analyze what France and Europe are like today. Hopefully, they won't ignore the early political class origins of long-term problems.
