Wine and War: The French, the Nazis, and the Battle for France's Greatest Treasure

I'm not a true blue wine drinker. I do love and appreciate wine, but that wasn't why I bought this book. Instead, I am a 30-something woman who has always had an interest in WWII. When I came across the description for this book, I had to have it. While France wasn't the only country to be overrun by the Nazis, this book gave a refreshing view of the people who lived through their occupation. The War through the eyes of wine lovers was a mix of quiet resistance and clever sleight of hand. I loved it!
I do wish more had been written about the Alsatian region though. The Hugels were the only family that were covered, whereas the regions of Champagne and Burgandy got the most coverage. You would think such a fought over area would have been written about more since it too is prized wine country. Still, this book deserves the 5 stars.

Wine & War will make the perfect gift for that wine buff who has everything: it provides an unusual story of France's clever vintners who protected and rescued France's wine industry from German plunder during World War 2. The extraordinary measures taken to protect bottles and crops alike makes for lively, riveting history.

Having traveled throughout many of the areas covered by the Kladstrups in this remarkable book, I was captured by the not-often told history of the vineyards during World War II. While certainly not expecting a weighty academic tome about the French-German parley over the wine business, I certainly enhanced my appetite to learn more about the actual mechanics of the murky business dealings between the German occupiers (many of whom were pre-war acquaintances of the vintners themselves) and the French vintners.
The book is an easy read; and while history has obfuscated the difference between those in the French Resistance, and those who 50 years ex post facto claim to have been part of the Resistance, I believe the Kladstrups made an honest effort to provide a semblance of balance.
But for those of us who love French wine, the stories of how precious stores of vintage wines were hidden from the Nazis are truly remarkable. I would have loved to have seen a couple of more chapters towards the end of the book, demonstrating how the vineyards got back on their feet, and more importantly, how the pre-war German-French relationships were reestablished.
If you are looking for a good summertime read, this book is for you. A very casual and enjoyable read.

This is an engrossing, and distinctive observation on one of the many impacts of World War II on both France and Germany. It is not simply a book about French wine, but a broader study of the impact of the German occupation upon French daily life. What is fascinating is how much the Germans coveted French cuisine, and especially wine, and how gluttony inspired the Nazi government's quest to strip the French larder as part of spoils of war. "Wine and War" does indicate what a highly regarded treasure French wine represents in Western culture.

This is a terrific read if you like wine or enjoy history (and is twice the pleasure for those, like me, who appreciate both). It is not a serious, scholarly history of the war, but instead a compilation of various anecdotes -- oral history being put into print. From a historical perspective, what I found the most interesting was the author's indication of how the legacy of the harsh reparations extracted from Germany by France in World War I came back to haunt the French in terms of the German thirst for revenge in the Second World War. There is an element of suspense throughout the book, in terms of the Germans possibly killing the goose that laid the golden eggs (though the reader already knows the outcome). However, the work manages to represent that beyond the greed and thuggery of some Germans, a number maintained a sense of humanity and long range vision regarding a people who would always remain their neighbors.

You won't learn alot about wine reading this book; you will learn more about history. But what you will learn about French wine is what a covetted treasure this has regarded in any of the German-French conflicts, and what a critical part of French culture it represents.

Despite a long bibliography at the back of the book, the book suffers from a lack insightful analysis and sharp writing. Although it is fun to hear about the wine (I actually have a greater interest in French wine as a result of reading the book) the book glosses over the historical complexities. As far as a history book goes, it provides very little. Everyone comes out a winner. The Kladstrups seem hesitant to criticize anyone whom they actually name, covering potential sins of collaboration or weakness with elaborate descriptions of wine, dinners, and romantic portrayals of life in the vinyard. They seem as reluctant to delve into things as the French did after the war. The chapter on the collaborator who made millions in wine deals with the Germans, "Uncle Louis," remains uncritical of such profiteering. It is as though most of the writing took place after a long meal with several glasses of wine. A disappointing read.