An American scholar has written a political biography of France's two-term president, tracing in detail his ascendancy and his deep hostility to de Gaulle, his gradual reform of the Socialist Party, his economic mistakes and corrections. The book reads like a rather listless chronicle, derivative and not particularly original, stressing Mitterrand's pragmatic skill as a politician, his idealism and humanistic allure. Mitterrand, often labeled enigmatic and elusive, should inspire a more probing, literate effort; he deserves better.