Elections produce deadlines for au-thors as well as politicians-hence the volumes piling up ahead of France's presidential election on April 21st and May 5th, not to forget its parliamentary election on June 9th and 16th. Will they enlighten French readers, and encourage an apathetic electorate to vote? Enlightenment we can probably count on, but not of a kind that will endear voters to Jacques Chirac or Lionel Jospin, the two leading candidates for president. Ra-phaeelle Bacque's very readable book portrays President Chirac, heir to the nation's Gaullist instincts, as a curiously empty man: what motivates him is not a thought-through ideology but the pursuit of power (witness his frequent assertion that a programme is simply a way to get elected). By contrast, Christine Mital and Erik Izraele-wicz, in their equally readable portrayal of Mr Jospin, depict France's Socialist prime minister as a man of ideology and ideas, some of which he keeps masked. In short, the titles are well chosen: Mr Chirac is indeed a demon for power, Mr Jospin a Monsieur Ni-Ni―a neither-nor man.
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