With Open Eyes

This book presents a revealing portrait of the spectacular rise of the Front National, from complete outsider to a possible winner of the next French presidential elections, through three independent yet interconnected photo essays.

It is therefore remarkable that no French publisher has dared to publish this book, a photographic record of a chapter in French history spanning the period from September 1990 to November 2023.

The Front National (FN), since 2017 known by the distinctly more friendly-sounding name Rassemblement National (RN, National Rally), is the far-right party founded in 1972 that served as an ideological forerunner to the many far-right movements that have emerged across Europe in recent decades, including, of course, Geert Wilders’ PVV.

The RN is, in effect, a family business: power within the party remains firmly in the hands of a Le Pen, whether Jean-Marie, the patriarch, Marine, his youngest daughter, or Marion, her niece and granddaughter. These three figures play the leading roles in the three episodes that make up the greater part of this highly topical publication.

The book concludes with an incisive analysis by French historian Nicolas Lebourg, a recognised specialist in far-right movements.