France may have been the birthplace of Ashkenazic Jewry, but it has been one of the worst centers of assimilation in Jewish history. Rabbi Wein focuses on the career of one Jewish Frenchman, Leon Blum, who served as Prime Minister concomitantly with the rise of Hitler. Despite his position, he suffered the fate of the Jews and was interred in a concentration camp. Yet he miraculously survived and went on to resume office though as a changed man. His life story and the subsequent relations between France and Israel make for a picture of extremes in diplomatic history.