Paris 1944
Occupation, Resistance, Liberation: A Social History

On the 80th anniversary of the Liberation along comes a masterpiece to do justice to those traumatic years and extraordinary few days in August when some French people -- men and women -- restored their country's reputation stained by Marshal Petain, Pierre Laval and Rene Bousquet, all of whom had b......more

If I were still buying books, I would add this to my library. Bishop has written a thoroughly engaging popular history of the city of lights during the Second World War. He punctures holes in some heroic narratives, provides an introduction to unfamiliar but genuine heroes, and makes me wish I could......more

Solid Read and very educational. Shows the truth behind the myth. Propaganda and the great modernization machine try to hide the utter defeat of France at the hands of the brutal Nazis, but more importantly, the mighty French Resistance takes a hit. Rather than a unified French resistance, it was a co......more

Clearly the work of a journalist and Francophile, but no less interesting for that, this book tells the story of the liberation of Paris starting in August 1944. Like the role of France generally in WW2, the story is complex and nuanced. And it has been told repeatedly by partial commentators trying......more

Highly readable and lively account of Paris' occupation and liberation four years later is peopled with a host of memorable characters - Picasso. Hemingway, J. D. Salinger, Col. Rol-Tanguy, Madeleine Riffaud, to name a few. Bishop does not subscribe to Choltitz's self-serving account of how he brave......more