The Fall of France Follies

Little known to this day is the fact that the fate of France in the Phony War of 1939-40 was fought out as much in the salons of the ‘Faubourg' as in the Chamber of Deputies or on the battlefields where there were no battles.

Two women who could be called the mistresses of the most powerful men in the French government waged a savage war, jousting for power and position to the degree that the German menace was at times secondary. A pout might remove a minister from office; a smile determine his replacement; a tear determine national policy.

These things are fact. In a from here on fictionalized account an elderly American experimenter in advanced wireless telegraphy is asked by British Intelligence to determine who is giving the Head of the French Government a great deal of bad information. With the aide of a renowned beauty of the haut monde, now however a convicted felon, he determines that the grandson of one of the mistresses is held captive by the Abwehr to force her to influence her man as they wish.

In the attempt to rescue the child and get him out of the country the old man proves that even in this chaos of corruption, graft and outright treason there can also be follies in both senses of the word.