Description

** THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER **

‘Extraordinary’ DOMINIC SANDBROOK, SUNDAY TIMES * ‘Thrilling’ MAX HASTINGS * ‘An epic thriller . . . droll, moving, with a cinematic eye and not a boring line in it’ OBSERVER * ‘Fascinating . . . gripping’ SUNDAY TELEGRAPH * ‘Excellent . . . a fresh, unexpected take on the liberation of Paris’ JULIAN JACKSON, author of France on Trial

From the Sunday Times-bestselling Patrick Bishop comes a heart-stopping countdown narrative recreating the liberation of Paris in 1944, one of the great and most dramatic hinge moments of WW2.

When the Germans marched in and the lamps went out in the City of Light the millions who loved Paris mourned. Liberation, four years later, triggered an explosion of joy and relief. It was the party of the century and everybody who was anybody was there. General Charles de Gaulle seized the moment to create an instant legend that would take its place alongside the great moments in French history. After years of oppression and humiliation Parisians had risen to reclaim their city and drive out the forces of darkness – or so the story went.

This fresh new account of the liberation, packed with revelation, tells the story of those heady days of suspense, danger, exhilaration – and vengeance – through the eyes of a range of participants, reflecting all sides of the conflict: Americans, French and Germans; resisters and collaborators. Among them are famous names like Ernest Hemingway, J.D. Salinger and Pablo Picasso, but also some fascinating unknowns including a medic turned Resistance gunwoman, an androgynous Hungarian sculptor and a French bluestocking who quietly set about saving the nation’s art treasures from the Nazi looters.

Paris ’44 looks behind the mythology to tell the real story of the liberation and expose the conflicts and contradictions of France under the occupation – the shame as well as the glory. This gripping war-time narrative will enthral anyone who has a place for Paris in their hearts.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE FRENCH HERITAGE SOCIETY BOOK PRIZE

Publisher Review

Bishop pulls no punches in emphasizing that the story of Paris’s liberation from the Germans by its brave citizens was a myth, invented for political purposes by Gen.Charles de Gaulle . . . This is a thrilling account of a notable episode of the last phase of World War II, told with authority as well as a wealth of unpublished anecdotes. — Max Hastings Paris ’44 tells the story of the occupation and the liberation, but it does not read like military history . . . The book resembles some epic thriller, with vividly evoked characters all somewhere on the spectrum between collaboration and resistance, shame and glory . . . Paris ’44 is a wonderful book: droll, moving, with a cinematic eye and not a boring line in it — Andrew Martin * Observer * An evocative account of the city’s liberation . . . Bishop is such a skilful writer, with a sense of nuance and an eye for memorable anecdotes, that even readers familiar with the story will enjoy his book enormously . . . history, like life, is complicated, and Bishop’s admirable book treats it with the respect and care it deserves — Dominic Sandbrook, host of The Rest Is History * Sunday Times * Patrick Bishop follows a tradition of British and American historians interrogating aspects of wartime history that the French themselves prefer to avoid. His beady-eyed Paris ’44 takes a panoramic view of crumbling Nazi administration, approaching armies, foreign correspondents, Resistance fighters, opportunist Gaullists and various collaborators, sharply depicting the faultlines of rivalry among the liberators — Roy Foster * TLS Books of the Year * How close Paris came to being laid waste – and many of its citizens being massacred in an almighty bloodbath – is vividly and thrillingly recounted by British war historian and Paris resident Patrick Bishop. We re-live the tension of those terror-filled days — Tony Rennell * Daily Mail * Fascinating . . . gripping . . . Bishop tells the story of the liberation by reporting, as if he were there, how a rich cast of characters lived through its key moments — Nicholas Farrell * Sunday Telegraph * Gives a vivid impression of what it might have been like to be there on that wonderful day . . . for those who prefer their history to be romantic, this book is the one. It’s all here . . . in full Technicolor, told at a blistering pace * Spectator * Excellent . . . a fresh, unexpected take on the liberation of Paris — Julian Jackson, author of France on Trial: The Case of Marshal Petain Bishop writes with admirable brevity and insight * Sunday Times * An extraordinary moment of history brought to vivid, pulsing life. Rich with suspense and layered with intrigue — Sinclair McKay, author of Berlin