Oldest Allies, Guarded Friends: The United States and France Since 1940
Reviewed by Fritz Stern
An analysis of Franco-American relations from Franklin Roosevelt's snubbing of Charles de Gaulle to present disputes of two countries in decline. Major crises -- the dispute over the European Defense Community and the Eurocorps, for example -- are case studies. The value of the book is Cogan's understanding of the fundamental cultural and historical differences that inevitably intrude into and chafe relations between the two countries. An odd mixture of history and journalism, a revised doctoral dissertation, enlivened by the author's 37 years in the cia.
