Ebook: Power and Pleasure: Louis Barthou and the Third French Republic

One of the great political figures of his day, Louis Barthou was also labelled a thief, an accomplice to murder, and a sexual pervert. He was France's foreign minister when, in 1934, he suffered a fatal bullet wound during the assassination of Yugoslavia's King Alexander. Barthou had spent forty-five years in public life as lawyer, journalist, deputy, senator, and cabinet minister. In 1913 he was appointed prime minister and the following year, when France's armies contained the German offensive in northern France, he was celebrated as a national hero. For this, and in recognition of his work as an author, Barthou was elected to the Académie française.