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

About the Author

Dominique Lapierre – the noted French author – has several celebrated books to his credit, including City of Joy, Freedom on the Soviet Roads and Chessman Told Me. A Fulbright scholar of economics at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, he travelled all over the world. In 1954, while serving in the French army, he met Larry Collins, a Yale graduate and draftee, to form an abiding friendship and literary partnership that produced renowned books such as Freedom at Midnight, O Jerusalem!, Mountbatten and the Partition of India and The Fifth Horseman. Dominique supports many humanitarian projects including refuge centres for leprosy and polio-afflicted children in Kolkata. He was also a close associate of Mother Teresa who gave him exclusive authorization to pen the script of a film on her, titled Mother Teresa: In the Name of God’s Poor. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2008.Larry Collins (1929–2005) served in the US army during 1943–45. After World War II, he worked as a journalist for the United Press International and subsequently, for Newsweek. He switched to writing books in 1964, and collaborated with Dominique Lapierre to produce epoch-making books, many of which were also converted into films. His solo works include Maze: A Novel, Black Eagles, Le Jour Du Miracle: D-Day Paris and Tomorrow Belongs to Us. Collins died of cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 76.