The Liberation of Paris

“The end of the city’s darkest hour” and the “birth of modern France” in a “brisk new recounting” that is “terse, authoritative, unsentimental” (Charles Trueheart, The Washington Post).

Award-winning historian Jean Edward Smith tells the “rousing” (Jay Winik, author of 1944) story of the liberation of Paris during World War II—a triumph achieved only through the remarkable efforts of Americans, French, and Germans.

Following their breakout from Normandy in late June 1944, the Allies swept across northern France in pursuit of the German army. The Allies intended to bypass Paris and cross the Rhine into Germany, ending the war before winter set in. But as they advanced, local forces in Paris began their own liberation, defying the occupying German troops.

Charles de Gaulle urged General Dwight Eisenhower to divert forces to liberate Paris. Ike wanted to help position de Gaulle to lead France after the war. Neither man knew that the German commandant, Dietrich von Choltitz, convinced that the war was lost, schemed to surrender the city to the Allies intact, defying Hitler’s orders to leave it a burning ruin.

In The Liberation of Paris, Jean Edward Smith puts “one of the most moving moments of the Second World War” (Michael Korda, author of Ike: An American Hero) in context, showing how the decision to free the city came at a heavy price. Was Paris worth this price? Smith answers this question in this compelling history.

“History at its finest.” —Carlo D’Este, author of Decision in Normandy and Patton: A Genius for War

“A must-read that brims with heroism, intrigue, chaos and danger.” —Susan Eisenhower, author, How Ike Led