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 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

"Patrick Bishop has done an excellent job in Paris ’44. The way he assembles an unexpected cast of characters—J. D. Salinger, Ernest Hemingway and Robert Capa, to name just a few—gives a fresh, unexpected take on the liberation of Paris. This is very good popular history.” Julian Jackson, author of France on Trial: The Case of Marshal Pétain

"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

“Riveting and powerfully written. Patrick Bishop has turned this tragic cautionary tale into a fascinating, shrewd and timely reflection on leadership in a time of crisis, and what can happen to personal ambition in the fevered atmosphere of war.” Henry Hemmng, author of Our Man in New York

“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