PREFACE

This book is made up of two paxts which are tneant to supplément each other. The former half , written in the f orm of a diary, largely consîsts of personal expériences which the author went through during his stay în Germany as a woimded prisoner of war. But, as he was but one French officer among many other French fellow-prisoners, there îs much in that part which describes the French national tempérament, the Frenchman's way of judging events, of gauging his enemies, his allies, his fellow-countrymen. The reflective mood, the analytical mind, which it is hard for the average Frenchman to discard, hâve been preserved throughout the book, as représentative of the Gallic spirit.

They are of course more obvions in the second half of the book, which deals with contemporary France, — not with France during the war^ but with France since the war.

The war has changed many things, both in Paris and in the French countryside. Many other things are being changed, apparently for the better. But there are some permanent aspects of the French soûl, of France, which the war has not so much as ruffled. Those are singled out and- dwelt upon as being an intégral part of La Nouvelle France.

As the American high schools and collèges are the

vanguard of America, and the whole of America is in-

IV PBEFACB

tensely înterested in France — not in pre-war France, not even in war-time France, but most of ail in postwar France, in the France that is beir^ evolved out of the chaos of war conditions, — it was thought that a bird's-eye view of precisely iJiat France might prove an attractive subject for both teachers and students.

The lai^uage used is every-day French, that is, French with its usual epithets and usual idioms. AU thèse idioms hâve been explained in the vocabulary, which, it is hoped, will be fonnd exhaustive enough not to leave one difficulty unsolved.

There is not a line of fiction in the whole book. It îs a picture of reality and, it is hoped, will contribute in its humble way to make American boys and girls better acquainted with French culture.

Franck L. Schoell.