The Second World War Archives of the Institut Français du Royaume Uni, London

Abstract

London was the first capital city of Free France, the French external resistance movement led by Charles de Gaulle. This city also hosted a dynamic French community and since 1910 a French Institute. This piece reviews the Second World War archives held at the French Institute, with a focus on the documents of its then director, Denis Saurat, who was one of the first London French to rally to de Gaulle.  However, by 1942 Saurat had become a leading anti-Gaullist and the French Institute archives allow scholars to add nuance to the history of Free France and wartime Britain.