Is Paris Burning? This was the question addressed by Adolf Hitler to his generals on 25 August 1944. Hitler had ordered systematic and complete destruction of Paris.

How Paris miraculously escaped Hitler’s death sentence is told in bone-chilling detail in this meticulously researched account. World-renowned authors Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre relate the incredible story of Paris’s survival in World War II. The book traces the events from 19 August 1944 to 26 August 1944 – an extraordinary week of tension, suspense, valiant resistance, and finally triumphant victory.

The hugely interesting reconstruct of how the two factions of the French Resistance – the Gaullists and the Communists – staged a heroic uprising; even while all the bridges and landmarks of Paris, including the Eiffel Tower and the Notre Dame Cathedral, were rigged with explosives at Hitler’s orders, ready to be blown up. The military governor of occupied Paris, General Von Choltitz, delayed the destruction of Paris even as the Allied and the Free French Forces under General Charles de Gaulle stormed into the city, thwarting Hitler’s plans.

‘The story itself, with all its triumphs, tragedies and cross-currents, is breathtaking and extraordinary.’
Observer

‘Thrilling … put together with the skill of master craftsmen … The documentation is superb.’
Evening Standard