Paris '44
The Shame and the Glory
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Named a Best Book of 2024 by Winnipeg Free Press
Celebrating the eightieth anniversary of the liberation of Paris, a heart-stopping countdown narrative recreating the liberation of Paris in 1944, one of the great hinge moments of WW2.
The fall of Paris to the Nazis in June 1940 seemed like the darkest day of the Second World War; and the liberation of the city in August 1944 felt like the brightest.
The liberation was a hinge moment of immense significance for the twentieth century, heralding the final victory of light over darkness and opening the door to a future free from fear. It was also the party of the century: champagne flowed freely, total strangers embraced - it was a celebration of life renewed against the backdrop of the world's favourite city, seen in by the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Lee Miller, JD Salinger, Picasso, and Robert Capa.
This happy ending has come to feel as if it was pre-ordained. But there was nothing inevitable about it. Had things gone differently Paris might have gone down as a ghastly monument to Nazi nihilism, reduced to a rubble-strewn graveyard.
This book, timed for the eightieth anniversary of the liberation of Paris, tells the story of those iridescent days in a startling new way. In a countdown narrative, packed with drama, heroism, joy--and heart-thumping suspense--the City of Lights' fate hangs in the balance.
About this Author
PATRCIK BISHOP is the author of two hugely acclaimed bestsellers about the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, Fighter Boys and Bomber Boys, and books including Wings, a history of the RAF, and Air Force Blue, which celebrated 100 years of the RAF and was a Sunday Times bestseller. He spent twenty-five years as a foreign correspondent covering conflicts around the world.
Reviews
Named a Best Book of 2024 by Winnipeg Free Press
"An exhaustively researched, enthralling, cinematic account of the liberation of Paris, in time for its 80th anniversary."
--Janet Somerville, Toronto Star
"[Bishop] takes a refreshingly novel approach. He focuses on a cross section of characters from across the political and social spectrum, creating a multi-faceted narrative with terrific colour and drama. . . . Patrick Bishop's sombre, gruelling but hugely impressive book is a timely reminder of how the City of Light was freed from an even darker hour."
--Andrew Lynch, Business Post
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