France under recession, 1981-1986 /

Tuppen (geography, University of Salford, UK), author of The Economic Geography of France (CH, Oct '83), presents a well-written description of France's economic and social problems and policies in the 1980s. The effects of economic recession and of the reformist policies of France's socialist government provide the integrating framework for a discussion of a wide range of topics, among them demographic changes, technological transformation of industry, housing problems in the cities, and changing unemployment patterns (geographically and among groups within the work force). Policies aimed at industrial and administrative decentralization receive particular attention. For the politics of that same period, The French Socialists in Power, 1981-1986, ed. by Patrick McCarthy (CH, Mar '88), would make a good companion to Tuppen's book. Numerous tables and figures (especially maps); also some political cartoons. Good bibliography and references, mostly to French sources. A glossary of French abbreviations and acronyms would be welcome, as would translations of a number of French phrases and slogans. A worthwhile addition to upper-division undergraduate and graduate collections in French or European economies and European economic geography. H. D. Renning California State University, Stanislaus