"Few nations have experienced a more violent and unstable political history than France. From 1789 to 1958, the leaders of four republics, two absolute monarchies, two constitutional monarchies, two imperiums, and a fascist regime all struggled and ultimately failed to rule France. Although a myriad of reasons explain the emergence and collapse of each political system before 1958, one underlines all--the French failed to master the art of power. As a master of power, Charles de Gaulle appears to have broken France's bloody cycle of the rise and fall of regimes. He did so largely through the system he created in 1958 and the policies that he asserted as president until he resigned in 1969. De Gaulle's legacy is the Fifth Republic, which has flourished for over five decades and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. This book asks: What is the art of power? What is the art of French power? How did Charles de Gaulle understand and assert power in his lifetime? How well or poorly have his successors wielded the art of French power in asserting national interests as they defined them? "--