Charles de Gaulle spoke of France the way mystics speak of God — as a transcendent idea of which he was the earthly vessel. He rejected Vichy, rallied the Free French from London, liberated Paris, and then returned from political exile in 1958 to save the Republic a second time, ruling for another eleven years with an imperious grandeur that made even his allies uneasy. He did not serve France — in his own mind, he was France.

This episode traces de Gaulle from his military career through the London exile, the Liberation, the founding of the Fifth Republic, the Algerian crisis, and the May 1968 protests that finally shook his grip on power.

• De Gaulle’s military career, his prescient warnings about tank warfare, and the Fall of France
• The London broadcast, the Free French movement, and the liberation of Paris
• The return from exile in 1958 and the founding of the Fifth Republic
• The Algerian War, the nuclear program, NATO withdrawal, and the May 1968 crisis that ended his era