New book by Doctor of Historical Sciences Yu.I. Rubinsky, who worked for many years as an adviser to the USSR and then the Russian Embassy in Paris, and taught in France, is dedicated to the last period of the political life of the Fifth Republic. The key moments of N. Sarkozy's activity are successfully projected onto the peculiarities of the political culture and national mentality of the French. The range of issues raised in the book is very wide: among them are the personality traits of the “hyper-president”, the results of his international activities, the images of a whole galaxy of French politicians and much more.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is one of the most colorful figures not only in political life of his own country, but also beyond its borders. The son of an emigrant from Hungary, he paradoxically combines a passionate defense of the French national identity based on traditional right-wing conservative values with the desire to radically modernize state institutions, the economy, and the country's domestic and foreign policies in accordance with the challenges of the 21st century, and to raise its prestige in the international arena.

The objective difficulties of implementing this large-scale but controversial program are aggravated by subjective factors - the characteristics of Sarkozy’s temperament and character, his characteristic leadership style, which is noticeably different from the style of his predecessors at the Elysee Palace.

The author of the book is a famous Russian A political scientist and diplomat who spent many years in France, sums up the preliminary results of Sarkozy's activities as head of state, analyzing in detail the successes and failures of his numerous reforms. The French themselves will evaluate these results during the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2012, and the political prospects of not only the current head of state, but also France, which has always been and remains one of Russia’s most important strategic partners in Europe, depend on this.