Frédéric Monier, Dishonest power. Public corruption in France, 18th-20th centuriesChamp Vallon, 12 September 2025, 256p. ISBN 979-10-267-1370-8

Shortlisted for the "Van Ruymbeke Prize" launched this year (2025) by Transparency International France: https://transparency-france.org/2025/09/12/lancement-du-prix-van-ruymbeke/

Presentation:

This book offers a history of corruption, as the French perceived and understood it, sometimes by resorting to concealed practices of interest and power, more often by denouncing and condemning it, from the 1750s to the 1950s. But, as you would expect, practices varied from one period to another, as did the responses to what was seen as a problem of collective morality. To put it another way, there is no one immutable form of corruption in French history, but rather a range of issues that have evolved over time, as evidenced by the changing meanings of the word itself.

A specialist in French political history, with a particular focus on conspiracy, corruption, patronage and clientelism, Frédéric Monier is the author of Corruption et politique : rien de nouveau (Armand Colin, 2011) and Léon Blum, la morale et le pouvoir (Armand Colin, 2016).

Link to the book