Ernest Grimaud de Caux was The Times correspondent in Madrid from 1910 to 1939, encompassing the period of Primo de Rivera’s Dictatorship, the fall of the monarchy, and the Civil War. With his deep knowledge of Spain’s history, culture and politics, he was widely respected in his profession and highly valued by The Times.

It Happened in France covers the immediate post Civil War years, when de Caux was living in France, under German Occupation. It contains a series of so far unpublished essays, written at the time, and recounting his experience of the Occupation, including the flight from Paris under the German advance, daily life in the Southwest, his three weeks in prison after arrest by the Gestapo, reflections on Vichy’s political leaders, and what today we would call the geopolitics of the time. These essays, accompanied by a biography and personal appreciation of de Caux, constitute a fascinating and intimate account of an important aspect of the Second World War.