Introdu ction; 1. First steps; 2. The roots of Vichy antisemitism; 3. The strategy of Xavier Vallat, 1941-42; 4. The system at work, 1940-42; 5. Public opinion 1940-42; 6. The turning point: summer 1942; 7. The Darquier period, 1942-44; 8. Conclusions: the Holocaust in France; List of abbreviations; Notes; Index.

"This superb and definitive description of Vichy's policy . . . has two conspicuous merits. It pulverizes the defense of those apologists of Vichy who claim that Petain or Laval weren't as bad as all that. It also allows the historical debate to shift from 'what happened?' to 'why did it happen?'" -- New York Review of Books"Marrus and Paxton provide a graphic and often heartrending account of official cruelty, administrative callousness, public prejudices, and popular indifference; the section on Vichy's concentration camps is particularly eloquent. Their exhaustive research and the sobriety of their prose make this indictment far more powerful than previous works on the subject." -- New York Times Book Review"A quite brilliant work giving in fascinating detail the origins and evolution of Vichy's Jewish policies and the support--and sometimes aversion--these policies called forth in the French population. . . . The authors have written an utterly absorbing book, something of a spiritual history of a great democratic nation sunk in the squalor of moral collapse." -- The Times Literary Supplement