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Is Paris Burning

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If Hitler had his way, there would be no Notre Dame, none of Paris' beautiful bridges, no Eiffel Tower. The Allies didn't stop him, a brave German general did. At a tremendous personal risk, he resolved not to be the man to destroy the most beautiful city in the world.

The story is told with the in-your-face realism of two journalists. Yet it's full of humor and even downright silliness. Would-be soldier Enrnest Hemingway captured a German soldier and relieved him of his pants. Why? He figured no man would escape half-naked. He was right.

This isn't about troop movements, it's about real people risking their lives (and those of their families) to liberate Paris. After all, Eisenhower didn't think he had enough fuel or time to fight a mini-war for Paris. He desperately needed to push east to Germany.

So how did it all happen? Read the book, in Paris if you can, but whever you can find a good lamp. Is Paris Burning? will keep you up late at night.

Is Paris Burning? is one of the best books that Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins have wrote together. A huge job, a piece of history novel, good as only a few can be, with a great work of investigation; interviews with people like General Dietrich von Choltitz, (who recieved the order from Adolf Hitler, to burn Paris, in case that the defense couldn't be accomplish) or for example the Chief of Operations in Europe, the General Dwight Eisenhower. As usual in their books, Lapierre and Collins, put the reader inside of one of the most importants chapters in the history of the XX century, the liberation of Paris, with precisions of days, hours, and places. The order of Hitler, the beginning of the resistance, the slow arrival of the allied, the clear disobedience of General Von Choltitz.... in fact, a crucial moment in the history of one of the most beautiful citys in the world, a turning point in the development of the Second World War. A different way to learn history.

I just finished reading Is Paris Burning? by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre. The book is the fascinating tale of how Paris evaded the fate Hitler envisioned for it at the end of the Second World War. It's a complex tale, , with characters including Hitler and his staff in his bunker, the last German military governor in Paris and his staff, the French freedom fighters in Paris (both the Gaullists and the Communists), de Gaulle himself, Eisenhower and Bradley and the various other members of the Allied command structure, the Swedish ambassador in Paris, and common people, in the armed forces and in the streets of Paris. The title is drawn from a question Hitler asked, when he found out that Allied troops were approaching Paris.

The tale starts with the uprising in Paris, and ends just after its liberation is celebrated in the streets. Hitler had hand-picked the last military governor of Paris, based upon his reputation from attacks against Rotterdam and Sevastapol, and he had the task of holding back the Allies at Paris, or, failing that, reducing Paris to ruins, much like Warsaw had recently suffered. The Allies had every intention of bypassing Paris and moving onwards, but the freedom fighters in Paris knew the Allies were nearby, and hoped to push things to their advantage. All of these things should have spelt disaster for the City of Lights, but opportunity and stubborn resistance and collusion and soldier's honour led to a different outcome.

The authors tell a spellbinding tale, based upon much research. My copy is a used copy, and dates back to the mid-1960s (bought it on amazon, used). There are a great deal of photos, documenting scenes from throughout the story. The authors, in my opinion, did a commendable job, and I would recommend this book to those interested in Paris, or in the Second World War.

As part of Adolf Hitler's nihilistic resolution to decimate all traces of his infamous conquests and satanic occupations, Paris was to turn into a victim of Warsaw proportions. Lapierre and Collins masterfully direct the reader to the grueling scenario Generalfeldmarschall Dietricht von Choltitz had to endure: a German army turned decadent from Parisian amenities; allied troops slowly filling in the fringes of the French capital; and most importantly, Hitler's irreversible obsession to obliterate le Champs Elysées, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the perennial scars of European history.

Hopscotching between enemy lines, the authors draw the nauseating political picture of Paris during August of 1944 with Resistance militias and FFI agents vying for eventual supremacy, de Gaulle battling against time and the insensitive Eisenhower to avoid internal military strife and eventual Communist hegemony, and Wehrmacht officers contemplating the insurmountable fate of the City of Lights. They also explain in detail the military background of the liberation of northwest France and the strategic and political dilemma facing the Supreme Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces: chasing after the subdued German army all the way to the Rhine or liberating a Paris overshadowed by the hammer and the sickle.

"Is Paris Burning?" is superbly documented, intelligently written, and scrutinizingly researched. The real accounts of heroes and antiheroes, mothers and sons, Fascists and Communists, French and German alike are spellbinding and Homeric.

The dreadful question "Is Paris burning?" was put by Hitler himself to the German commander of Paris.

It anticipated the mad politic he will follow in the last year of WWII: burn it all, destroy it all (enemy or German alike).

The authors of this book had done a great work performing a very readable and entertaining piece.

They apply the technique of interviewing key witness, ranging from public figures to almost unknown particulars, from Allies military thru Resistance members, from Diplomats to German military. All of them have their saying and express their viewpoints unrestricted.

The collective memories of the witnesses generate an enormous "collage" of the period.

Collins and Lapierre take this huge mass of information to produce a coherent, ordered, dynamic and griping story that keep the reader going on.

An excellent 1966's film of the same title with an all stars cast is done based on this book.

This is an informative book commendable for anyone who is interested in WWII history or in the curious and dangerous events that endangered the existence one of the most beautiful City Capitals of the world.

Reviewed by Max Yofre.

This book reads as a gripping fiction story rather than a history book. The setting is WWII Paris just before and during the Allied liberation of the city. The authors follow the activities of dozens of characters who played a role in the liberation. I got very engaged with the characters as well as the plot. Excellent book.

This excellent book not only describes the events that happened in Paris during her liberation in 1945, it also describes the emotions felt by the different people living those events. Few books have made me feel a bizarre mixture of feelings like this one did. From one page to the next I found myself feeling happy, angry, surprised, sad, worried (yes, worried... even though I'm able to see every day that the city was not destroyed). This book has given me new eyes to see my own city. Paris is full of little plates with the dates and the names of the persons who died for her liberation. I didn't use to pay attention to these things. Today, I look at them with new interest and gratitude. There's only one little detail I would criticize about the book: its continuous repetition about Paris being the most beautiful city in the world. Even though I agree with the authors about this fact, I think their use of this remark was a little exaggerated and sometimes you loose the real context with so many repetitions. But well, no book is perfect and at the end, this is a very negligible thing compared to the interesting stories the authors share with the reader. They did a marvelous job researching the existing documents and interviewing the different intervening persons. I can't imagine the enormous amount of work this represented....

Puts flesh on the bones of a remarkable group, including Generals Patton, Bradley, Eisenhower and Von Coltitz, writers Hemingway and Sartre, and political figures Roosevelt, Hitler and DeGaulle. Numerous anecdotes from the occupation and liberation brings history to life. Tales of moonlit parachute drops, secret codes and Molotov cocktails remain with the reader, long after the book is completed. Like the last Metro train before curfew for Parisians under Nazi rule, this book is not be missed.

This is a very moving story of courage and heroism in the face of overwhelming odds. It is evident that the authors did alot of research on the story. It helps that they are both journalists by profession. One thing I would like to see is how the major players lives turned out since. Perhaps in the next edition. I bought the movie on DVD at the same time as this book. Reading the book adds so much to the movie watching experience as well.

This book accomplishes what many "popular" history treatments do not, in that it leaves the reader much more enlightened on its topic (at least capable of actively contributing to any cocktail party conversation on the topic) without requiring the reader to have had a lot of background on the subject first. This is not a comprehensive, academic-style study of the German occupation and surrender of Paris; rather, it reads like a collection of anecdotes and vignettes (mixed with generally known facts about the events) that weave together to present a reasonably clear picture of what sounds like a fascinating time. You don't have to know a lot about the war, Paris, or military strategy to enjoy and benefit from this book. Another comment: This made the liberation of Paris sound like the world's greatest celebration, and leaves one feeling sorry to have missed it.