Robert PikeNov 23, 2021The lost generation of Oradour-sur-GlaneOriginally published on French History Network Blog When a single singed page landed at his feet, having drifted down from the...
Robert PikeMay 16, 2021The Girl in the School PhotographThere are far more personal stories attached to Oradour-sur-Glane than I was able to fit into a single volume. Now that the book, Silent...
Robert PikeMay 9, 2021Silent Village launchI first visited Oradour-sur-Glane in 1993. My mother was an A level History teacher and my parents were Francophiles. It followed that I...
Robert PikeMar 19, 2021The teacher, the mother and OradourLouise Bardet never got to eat lunch with the elder of her two children on 10 June 1944. That morning the sky had been grey and the air...
Robert PikeJun 29, 2020The Welsh Silent VillageTwo years to the day before Oradour-sur-Glane was destroyed by the SS Das Reich (the subject of my own upcoming book, Silent Village)...
Robert PikeJun 10, 2020The Road to the Silent VillageOn June 10 1944 The French village of Oradour-sur-Glane was destroyed by the SS. Here Robert Pike previews his next book 'Silent Village
Robert PikeMay 24, 2019The Resistance: Maryse and Monette – agents and life-saversIn April 1943 two young French men, both of Eastern European-Jewish heritage, struck up a friendship with Maryse Nicolas and Monette...
Robert PikeFeb 12, 2019The footballer and his band of killersAlexandre Villaplane and the 'Phalange nord-africaine' in the Dordogne. Alexandre Villaplane described the day he led the French national...
Robert PikeOct 4, 2018The changing face of VichyIn 1971 Marcel Ophuls released a film that sparked a change in how France viewed the occupation. Four hours long, it upset the...
Robert PikeAug 30, 2018Vichy and the occupation in filmCinema is important to the French. As the birthplace of the motion picture, the country shares a special relationship with the medium....
Robert PikeAug 21, 2018Archive interview with SOE agent Jacques PoirierJacques Poirier was a Frenchman who joined Maurice Buckmaster's F section of the Special Operations Executive (S.O.E) in London. He was...
Robert PikeSep 1, 2017Lucie Aubrac's views on the beginnings of the ResistanceThe development of the Resistance accelerated greatly due to military developments well outside the sphere of influence of the...
Robert PikeAug 26, 2017Prof. Rod Kedward and Patrice RolliI recently spent an extremely profitable not to mention enjoyable day at the Brighton home of Rod Kedward, Emeritus Professor of History...
Robert PikeAug 24, 2017Where it all began...?I was lucky enough to meet Jacques de la Bardonnie at his Château Laroque, overlooking the picturesque village of...
Robert PikeAug 22, 2017Resistance of the 'first hour'I first met Ralph Finkler in 1996 and was delighted to catch up with him again on two occasions recently. His story led to my deep...