This book explores the contours of civic identity in the town of Vichy France. Over the course
of its history Vichy has been known for three things: its thermal spa resort its products
(especially Vichy water and Vichy cosmetics) and its role in hosting the État Français
France's collaborationist government in the Second World War. This last association has become
an obsession for the residents of Vichy who feel stigmatized and victimized by the widespread
habit of referring to France's wartime government as the 'Vichy regime'. This book argues that
the stigma victimhood and decline suffered by Vichyssois are best understood by placing
Vichy's politics of identity in a broader historical context that considers corporate as well
as social and cultural history.
