Gino G. Raymond is Professor of Modern French Studies at the University of Bristol, UK. He has written extensively on contemporary France and his publications include André Malraux: Politics and the Temptation of Myth (1995); The French Communist Party During the Fifth Republic (2005) and The A-Z of France (2010).

Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction; Gino G. Raymond 1. Nicolas Sarkozy: End of the Republican Monarchy?; Gino G. Raymond 2. 'Sarkozysm': From Political Ambivalence to Hard Right; Philippe Marlière 3. Sarkozy's Political Leadership and the Institutions of the Fifth Republic; Alistair Cole 4. Sarkozy and Europe: Back to the Future; Gino G. Raymond 5. 'A Piecemeal Approach with No Vision': French Policy Towards Africa Under Nicolas Sarkozy; Gordon D. Cumming 6. The Sarkozy Years: Attempting to Define a New Paradigm for Diversity Governance in France; Vincent Latour 7. Pension Reform Under Sarkozy: A Quantitative Rather Than a Qualitative Change; Jean-Paul Révauger 8. Culture and the State Under Sarkozy; David Looseley Conclusion; Gino G. Raymond Index

Sarkozy came to power promising radical political and social change while simultaneously developing a presidential persona that melded the public and the personal under the glare of media attention, unparalleled in the French Fifth Republic. This volume provides a detailed analysis of the fit between his ambitions and the outcomes of his presidency