Victory of the Vanquished

One of few accounts of the Royalist counter-revolution in the Vendée region of France from 1793-1796. During the 1970s Veronica Bamfield began to investigate the Vendée. She had been drawn to make a study of this episode when she discovered that several remarkable women had been involved in the fighting. She determined to recount the story of the uprising and its heroes. From her small rented cottage in the heart of the insurgency area, Veronica Bamfield sallied forth - charming, cajoling and intriguing the local people into giving family anecdotes and reminiscences. Few seemed able to resist her energetic questioning, full of sympathy for their ancestors' exploits. The Vendée had previously been accorded insufficient attention in France, and Veronica Bamfield was immensely pleased to see her Victory of the Vanquished (1990) translated into French and the object of discussion by French scholars. The book was until recently still in print in France.