An examination of the military doctrine that animated the French defense against the German invasion in 1940. Argues that the French learned the wrong lessons from World War I and were ill prepared for World War II - Lessons for modern armies about how to learn from past wars and prepare for future wars - Winner of the Paul Birdsall Prize of the American Historical Association Brig. Gen. Robert A. Doughty, USA (Ret.), is a graduate of West Point, former chair of its history department, and a prize-winning military historian. He is the author of Pyrrhic Victory: French Strategy and Operations in the Great War. He lives in Louisiana.