This study investigates the social and political motivations of the Maquis resistance movement in southern France during the German occupation of 1942-1944. H. R. Kedward, a noted historian of French resistance, utilizes a combination of archival records and personal oral histories to reconstruct the lived experience of those who retreated into the rural landscape to fight. The work argues that the resistance was not merely a military endeavor but a profound transformation of rural community life and regional identity under the pressure of wartime occupation.

Historians and scholars frequently cite this work as a foundational text for understanding the grassroots nature of the French resistance. Readers often note the balance between rigorous academic research and the accessible, human-centered narrative style employed by the author.