Germaine Villard's book is dedicated to the period 1939-1941, which left a deep mark on the history of France and all of Europe. She reveals the reasons for the defeat of 1940 and shows the main features of the Vichy regime created by the traitors Petan and Laval. The constantly changing difficult situation of that time required individuals and political parties to take a certain position, on which not only the present, but also the future of France depended. Germaine Villard does not bypass any of the important problems of that period. She sets out the characteristic features of the Second World War, relying on historical truth. The author convincingly reveals the imperialist nature of the initial period of the Second World War, when the conflict took place mainly between Nazi Germany, on the one hand, and France and England, on the other. He emphasizes the changes that then took place in the nature of this war for France from the moment the enemy invasion of the country began.