A Maoist professor who is one of France`s most respected academic philosophers has produced a surprise literary hit with an outspoken attack on Nicolas Sarkozy that compares the president to wartime collaborator Marshal Philippe Petain. Alain Badiou, 70, whose abstract writings on metaphysics and post-structuralism normally sell just a few hundred copies, has been courted by the media after his reflections on the head of state -- "De quoi Sarkozy est-il le nom?" (Of what is Sarkozy the name?) -- became a minor best-seller. Heralded by fans as a clarion-call for a resurgent far-left, the book speaks of the president in disparaging terms -- Sarkozy is referred to as the "Rat Man" -- and claims he came to power last year on the back of a "Petainist transcendental". According to Badiou, Petain became leader in 1940 of a France that was transfixed by fear of war and social change, and the same conditions apply to Sarkozy today. "Sarkozy is the name of a society which is afraid and asks to be protected. I sense in this society a demand for a master-protector capable of using violence against those who are the origin of that fear," Badiou said in a recent television interview. "Essentially Petainism is the politics of fear -- Sarkozy`s is the softly-softly version," he said. In the book, Badiou argues that Sarkozy is inspired by the same triptych of values as Petain -- "Nation, Work, Family" -- and that his policies towards illegal immigrants are comparable to France`s war-time victimisation of the Jews. A former interior minister, Sarkozy has been attacked by the left for setting up deportation quotas. Before May`s election he was much criticised for his tough language towards teenage delinquents in the immigration-rich city suburbs. Born in 1937, Badiou teaches philosophy at the elite Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris and lectures regularly in the United States. For many years he was a leader of the Maoist movement in France and he continues to profess faith in a Communist future. "Normally his books appear only in specialist shops, but today we are getting orders from all the big book chains and from the provinces," said Badiou`s publisher Sebastien Raimondi. "There`s been a real word-of-mouth effect," he added, saying 20,000 copies had so far been sold. "It is answering a real need. People are despondent about the state of the left and want some sign of hope," he said. In "De quoi Sarkozy est-il le nom?", Badiou says that the arrival in power of a unabashed rightwinger is an opportunity for the left to rediscover its roots. He predicts a new alliance of students, workers, immigrants and the poor. The success of the book has not been universally welcomed on the left, where some decry Badiou`s flights of language. Newspaper columnist Pierre Assouline angrily attacked the philosopher for calling Sarkozy the "Rat Man" -- after a famous case-study by Sigmund Freud -- and his supporters "rats." "My readers know well that I am no great fan of (Sarkozy), but with this vilification a Rubicon has been crossed .... The last time that people in this country were compared to rats was, let`s see, in 1942 in propaganda about the Jewish peril," he said on his blog.