The Republic of Men Gender and the Political Parties in Interwar France

Skillfully exploring how differing political traditions - from left to right - influenced and reacted to each other, Read shows that regardless of the party, predominant notions of gender manifested themselves in misogyny and double standards when it came to women's emancipation.
Despite the hostility of male politicians and party members, and despite women's exclusion from both parliament and the vote, Read argues that women were nonetheless crucial to politics and visibly prominent within almost every political party in interwar France. Read explains this seeming contradiction by demonstrating the existence of a conservative trend in gender politics that by the mid-1930s had enveloped even the Communist Party.
Through his masterful analysis, Read closes significant gaps in the existing historiography and presents a truly revisionist assessment of early-twentieth-century French politics.