THROUGHOUT most of history, major naval engagements with more than a thousand men killed and the invasion and occupation of such countries as Syria and Lebanon, plus most of north-west Africa, would be considered major acts of war.

In the Second World War these events were almost footnotes to history, such was the scale of the mayhem and bloodshed elsewhere. Yet these battles were serious enough for those who fought and suffered in the struggle between Britain and her erstwhile French ally after the Vichy government made peace with Hitler in 1940.

Those involved in these “forgotten” campaigns included such disparate characters as the future field marshal Bill Slim, SAS legend Paddy Mayne and Israeli soldier-politician Moshe Dayan.

Nor were these episodes lacking in importance; the Royal Navy’s attacks on the French fleet convinced many important doubters, notably Americans, that Britain would fight on, while Operation Torch, the Anglo-American assault on French North Africa, was a vital step towards D-Day.

Colin Smith tells the story with a mix of detail and dry humour. He shows how though the breaking of the entente cordiale engendered much lasting bitterness, there were still outbreaks of decency and civilised behaviour between the British and French that belied their traditional rivalries. He also brings to life leading players, most notably Frenchmen such as Laval, Darlan and Petain, plus Vichy’s arch-opponent, de Gaulle, along with their Anglo-Saxon counterparts, dominated, of course, by Churchill.