"This remarkable, award-winning book is sure to be extremely well received by English-language audiences. It provides a detailed, rigorous, chronologically wide, broadly comparative, and fascinating history of French nationality. "How to Be French" profoundly revises previous knowledge on the topic, and its comparative framework makes it essential reading not only to scholars of France but also to those interested in Germany, the United States, Algeria, and beyond."-- Eric T. Jennings, author of "Curing the Colonizers: Hydrotherapy, Climatology, and French Colonial Spas"

Acronyms and Abbreviations vii
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
Part One. The Construction of Modern Nationality Law in France
1. From the Old Regime to the Civil Code: The Two Revolutions in French Nationality 11
2. The Triumph of Jus Soli (1803-1889) 30
3. Naturalization Comes to the Aid of the Nation (1889-1940) 54
Part Two. Ethnic Crises in French Nationality
4. Vichy: A Racist and Anti-Semitic Nationality Policy 87
5. The Difficult Reestablishment of Republican Legislation 125
6. The Algerian Crisis in French Nationality 152
Conclusion to Parts One and Two 168
Part Three. Nationality in Comparison and In Practice
7. Jus Soli versus Jus Sanguinis: The False Opposition between French and German Law 173
8. Discrimination within Nationality Law 194
9. How Does One Become or Remain French? French Nationality in Practice 228
Conclusion 250
Glossary 255
Notes 263
Maps and Documents 375
Bibliography 409
Index 427