Paris 1944

Occupation, Resistance, Liberation: A Social History

Patrick Bishop

A moving, dramatic social history of the liberation of Paris in 1944, one of the most inspiring and momentous events of the twentieth century.

The Sunday Times (London) bestseller

The fall of Paris to the Nazis on June 14th, 1940, was one of the darkest days of World War II. And the liberation of the city on August 25th, 1944, felt like the brightest.

The liberation was also the biggest party of the century: champagne flowed freely, total strangers embraced—it was a celebration of life renewed against the backdrop of the world's favorite city, as experienced by the likes of Ernest Hemingway, J. D. Salinger, Pablo Picasso, and Robert Capa.

But there was nothing preordained about this happy ending. Had things transpired differently, Paris might have gone down as a ghastly monument to Nazi nihilism.

Paris 1944—timed for the eightieth anniversary of the liberation of Paris—tells the story of those iridescent days in a startling new way. Cutting through decades of myth-making, the reader watches the city’s fate hanging in the balance against the drama, heroism, joy, and suspense of one of the most explosive moments of the twentieth century.

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Endorsements & Reviews

“In Paris 1944, Patrick Bishop tells the stories of the individuals who lived through the four years of occupation, from German soldiers to French collaborators and the many ordinary Parisians who simply laid low. There are many perceptive portraits here. It is in Mr. Bishop’s dispelling of the myth, as perpetuated by De Gaulle, that Paris had liberated itself with minimal assistance from the Allies, that his book impresses most. Research, he concludes, 'is fun' and his pleasure and excitement are evident throughout. To read Paris 1944 is to understand how hard the battle for liberation was actually fought.” The Wall Street Journal

“In Paris 1944, Patrick Bishop tells the story of the German occupation during World War II, with equal attention to French resisters and collaborators. [Bishop] aims to highlight the symbolic power of that mythic city, by drawing the reader into the streets of Paris just in time for the 80th anniversary of its liberation. His book enliven[s] the political complexities beneath the symbolism. The central character of the book is, of course, the city itself. A celebration of a historical moment when individual gusto and gumption overcame authoritarian might. That is why we still have Paris.” The New York Times Book Review

"Bishop’s writing style is admirably unflowery, and his account is illuminated by an inspired choice of evocative testimony." The Telegraph

"Bishop is such a skillful writer, with a fine 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." The Times (London)

"A wonderful book: droll, moving, with a cinematic eye and not a boring line in it. The book resembles some epic thriller, with vividly evoked characters all somewhere on the spectrum between collaboration and resistance, shame and glory." The Observer

“Historian Bishop contends in this splendid chronicle that the 1940 Nazi occupation and 1944 Allied liberation of Paris carried heavy symbolic weight. He uses the City of Light’s 'mythic' status as the backbone for a fine-grained narrative of life before and during the war, showing how a sense of exceptionalism permeated the thinking of Nazi occupiers, fascist sympathizers, and resistance fighters alike. This is a revelation.” Publisher's Weekly (Starred)

“An extraordinary moment of history brought to vivid, pulsing life. Rich with suspense and layered with intrigue.” Sinclair McKay, bestselling author of The Fire and the Darkness: The Bombing of Dresden, 1945

"Intriguing perspectives that balance myths and realities about the occupation and liberation of Paris during World War II. A fascinating and enlightening narrative that serves as an entertaining social history of World War II–era Paris." Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Operation Jubilee:

“Patrick Bishop’s well-researched, crisply written and utterly absorbing account of the Dieppe raid tells a story of heroism and futility that will live for the reader long afterwards. Operation Jubilee was all the more tragic for having been entirely avoidable, in ways that Bishop sets out powerfully, unflinchingly and unanswerably.” Andrew Robers, New York Times bestselling author of Churchill: Walking with Destiny

“Operation Jubilee is written with verve and knowledge, and with the author’s trademark style of integrating eyewitness accounts with insight into the human condition in battle. It draws upon new evidence and provides a new perspective on the French civilians. Recommended reading.” Tim Cook, author of The Fight for History