This book is concerned with the unprecedented involvement of the French state in the industrial sector of the country's economy during the First World War. That war was a great forcing-house for change, and one of the traditional relationships of French society which was radically altered during this period was that of the state to private industry. Professor Godfey's study is unique as far as France is concerned: it is the only full study of the workings of the French war economy from 1914 to 1918 and on the politics of businessmen.