This book reveals how France reinvented itself in the aftermath of the Second World War. After foreign militart interventions, the French political and intellectual elites embraced regime change and launched an urgent programme of nation building. With remarkable unanimity, they rebuilt French national identity with whatever material was available, reassembling words, images, ideas and symbols from the past to create a secure national arena in which the divisions and debates of the new France could be safely contained. There was a cost to subordinated groups, not least to women, which still casts a long shadow over French values and attitudes. But the result was a vibrant cultural and intellectual life that became the hallmark of France's international reputation. The way this was achieved might offer lessons for other countries, struggling to rebuild themselves after conflict.