Philip Short is the author of acclaimed biographies of Pol Pot and Mao Zedong. He worked for ten years as the BBC's Paris correspondent and lives in France.
"Short gives an extremely vivid account of the way Mitterrand exercised the office of president -- Jonathan Derbyshire * Prospect * An excellent new book... The story of the rebuilding of France after the war in an equally embittered and divided republic -- Andrew Adonis * New Statesman * A compelling read for anyone interested in international power politics -- Richard Davenport-Hines * Daily Telegraph * [Mitterrand] remains an endlessly fascinating figure, and Philip Short tells the story expertly in this deeply researched and marvellously readable biography -- David A. Bell * Guardian * A stunningly detailed investigation of a monumental political character -- Robert Collins * Sunday Times * Philip Short, a former Paris correspondent for the BBC, makes excellent use of new interviews with Mitterrand's family to portray a flawed hero described by his own doctor as a mixture of ""Machiavelli, Don Corleone, Casanova and the Little Prince"". * Sunday Business Post * Well-rounded -- Tobias Grey * Spectator * Excellent -- Patrick Marnham * Mail on Sunday * I don’t know why this extremely interesting book has not been more noticed… [A] gripping account -- Charles Moore * Daily Telegraph * A riveting read for anyone interested in political psychology -- Matthew Campbell * Sunday Times *"