The Fall of Paris: June 1940 (Hardcover)

by Herbert R. Lottman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The biographer of Flaubert, Colette, Petain and Camus here delivers an engrossing narrative account of one of the most traumatizing events of WW II. With a sharp eye for irony and incongruity, Lottman depicts the darkening of the City of Light during a notably lovely springtime as the German army approached and as rumors ran rampant--for instance, that German agents disguised as beggars, blind men, nuns and wounded French soldiers had infiltrated the city. The chronicle is rich in emotion and incident, with Lottman, Publishers Weekly 's European correspondent, relating the somber story largely as experienced by men and women who were there: then-colonel Charles de Gaulle, who commanded one of the few French units that stood and fought; high-school teacher Simone de Beauvoir, fretting over the fate of her soldier-lover Jean-Paul Sartre, on the Maginot Line; U.S. ambassador William Bullitt, rambunctious and self-dramatizing but also very courageous; and many other individuals, French and foreign, as they reacted to the national and personal crisis. Illustrated.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
On June 14, 1940, the German army entered an intact Paris and flew the swastika from the Arc de Triomphe. The French government had quietly departed, declaring the capital an open city. Lottman ( Flaubert: A Biography , LJ 2/1/89; Colette: A Life , LJ 11/1/90) gives us a day-by-day chronicle of events great and small from May 9, when blitzkrieg succeeded the "phony war," to the beginning of the occupation. His account is almost entirely from a Parisian perspective, disclosed through vivid but fragmentary accounts provided by dozens of public and private individuals who wrote diaries, gave interviews, or left other records. This method results in a sense of immediacy but makes for the disjointed narrative one would expect from cinematic short takes or a collage. The cumulative effect has considerable force, however. Recommended for academic and public libraries.
- R. James Tobin, Univ. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Lib.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 430 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers; 1st edition (October 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060165200
• ISBN-13: 978-0060165208
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,548,601 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Complete and Well Written History of Paris, May-June 1940, December 11, 2001

By	John P. Rooney "John" (Plymouth, MA USA-America's Hometown) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"The Fall of Paris, June 1940", by Herbert R. Lottman, sub-titled, "A Dramatic Narrative of the Final Weeks in Paris Before Its Capture by the German Army". HarperCollins, 1992.

This is a lengthy, (410 pages), well written book, describing the last five weeks or so of Paris as a free city before occupation by the German Army. The author, Herbert Lottman, a Native New Yorker, has written on other French subjects, including Marshall Petain, Albert Camus and Flaubert so Lottman is well prepared for this book. Each day from May 9, 1940 to June 23, 1940 is covered in a single chapter. The author did exhaustive research for each chapter. The book is exceedingly complete. After some reading, the reader can be so overwhelmed by the wealth of information that Lottman provides, that the temptation is to sneak ahead to the June 14th Chapter. June 14, 1940, is the day that German troops actually entered Paris.

Lottman brings to life the main actors in the French government, including Premier Paul Reynaud, his ever-interfering mistress, the old general Philippe Petain, and newly promoted general, Charles De Gaulle. By referencing their writings, the author also tells the tales of famous people, such as Jena-Paul Sarte, the philosopher, Maurice Chevalier, the actor, and many different journalists, including William Shirer and Clare Booth Luce. He does not, however, limit the personal reminiscences to the rich and famous, but includes recollections of the common people, including the French sergeant ordered to blow up the Eiffel Tower. Interestingly, one of the more memorable individuals in the book is the American Ambassador to France, William C. Bullitt, a friend of President Franklin Roosevelt. I wonder if H. Lottman chose some of the statements and actions of Ambassador Bullitt to provide a form of comic relief for the serious subject in this serious book.

Even in such a scholarly work, errors creep in. On page 341, he writes, "There were policemen here and their along their way." Clearly, too many possesive "theirs" are present. He wanted, "There were policemen here and there along their way". On page 394, in describing the visit of Adolf Hitler to a conquered Paris, Lottman terms Hitler, "Reichsfuehrer". Hitler was just simply "Der Fuehrer" and it was Heinrich Himmler (1900-1945) who had the title of "Reichsfuehrer". Overall, though, the book is well written and complete to the point of exhaustion.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Enlightening, June 23, 2009

By	R. Ashley (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fall of Paris: June 1940 (Hardcover)

Incredibly thorough, well researched, and nicely written. Contains countless stories about individuals who lived through these events. This book contains more personal accounts than battle details, which was refreshing. However, it was a tad too sparce on covering the battlefront, which made it sometimes seem disconnected from the big picture. A worthy read for anyone interested in the subject. Bravo!