La Segunda Guerra Mundial (1939-1945) fue uno de los acontecimientos que partió aguas en la historia de la humanidad, el mundo entero y sobre todo Europa no volvieron a ser las mismas tras la devastación que provocó la expansión del Tercer Reich por todo el continente y sus socios del Eje en casi todo el mundo.
En Arde París, Dominique Lapierre y Larry Collins cuentan en forma novelada los días de la ocupación Nazi de París en 1941, y su posterior liberación tras el desembarco de los aliados en Normandía en 1945.

Es un libro maravilloso como novela, y sublime como testigo indirecto (los autores hicieron una gran investigación histórico-periodística) de una época nefasta de la historia francesa, la de la total rendición a Hitler, y el surgimiento de la heroica resistencia francesa. A través de personajes de ficción, mezclados con personas que vivieron esa época, considerados próceres de la Francia moderna, nos invitan a conocer los entresijos de los años de ocupación.

Si les gustan las historias de la II GM, sin duda deben leer este libro.

Mi puntaje: 5 Marinas

A great bookend to go with "Guns of August".

So many characters to keep track of. The second half of the book was much more focused and as a result, more interesting than the first part. Interesting subject, but not as well written (to me at least) as Freedom at Midnight.

“Is Paris burning?” is not really the best thing to read soon after you are back home from a trip to Paris. Or maybe, it is. To read the harrowing account of the days leading up to the liberation of Paris from the Nazis in the August of 1944, with the full knowledge that Hitler’s men did not manage to destroy the iconic monuments of the city, despite them wiring with explosives every damn bridge across the Seine, and every monument dotting the city.

“Is Paris burning?” is a question that Adolf Hitler asked on August 25, 1944, when he realised that the city is slowly slipping away from his control. If he can’t have Paris, then no one should have it. He wanted the city burned down to ashes by the time the Allies reached there. But General Dietrich von Choltitz, the newly-appointed military governor of Paris, had some humanity left in his heart, despite being a Nazi.

He senses the madness that had taken over his leader and delays action of the Fuhrer’s orders, leaving enough time for the Allies to take back control. Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, masters of popular history chronicles those final few weeks in Paris, piecing together the story from the personal accounts of all the people involved, from the resistance fighters to the Nazi soldiers to the people on the street and those waiting for years for their loved ones, without any knowledge of whether they have perished in the fighting.

The question of accuracy of these accounts do crop up in your mind as you read through them. Certainly, they have taken quite a few “creative” liberties, especially with the detailing of what transpired behind closed doors, be it inside the German General’s office or Charles De Gaulle’s private meetings. Too much valorizing of De Gaulle, while overlooking the contributions of the Communists, also raises questions about the historical accuracy.

Nevertheless, it is a gripping account for much of its part. Also, it was fascinating to read the happenings from those days at places that we just walked through a few weeks back, like the mass that happens at the Notre Dame church, to celebrate the liberation, and unconfirmed reports of gunfire. Or, of the Nazi flag flying from the steel frames of Eiffel tower, the stairs of which we climbed all the way up. And again, the flag being replaced by the three colours of the French. Or, the fact that a Nazi band and a batallion of soldiers marched from the Arc de Triomphe to the Champs Elysses, on all days through their four year occupation of the city. And those few times when Mairie de Saint Ouen, the place where we stayed, popping in twice or thrice randomly.

The duo manages to capture the spirit of those days vividly, like they does in this paragraph – “But of all the experiences along their route, nothing stood out more for these men than the sheer emotional impact of the hundreds of thousands of exultant, overwhelmingly grateful Parisians swarming over them. Frank Burk, of Jackson, Mississippi, submerged in a sea of people, thought it was “without a doubt, the happiest scene the world has ever known. Burk reckoned there were “fifteen solid miles of cheering, deliriously people waiting to shake your hand, to kiss you, to shower you with food and wine.”

“Is Paris burning?” is a worthy read, if you take the “facts” with more than a pinch of salt. A visit to Paris immediately before or after would add to the reading pleasure, as I found out.

Great fast paced engaging writing. I was seeking perspective on current wars. Goal achieved.

WHY do people summarize instead of analyze????

Thought that this book was riveting. Read this before my trip to Paris so once I was in Paris, the scenes from the book kept playing itself before me. It truly made the history come alive.

Terrific read and a good treatment of a historical event of significant importance during the Second World War, and it took place in a city that I love. Worth every minute of your time to read.

hugely readable, slightly overwrought history of the weeks leading up to and the eve-day of-day after of the liberation of Paris, compiled into a minute by minute narrative through indexing of interviews. It's cheesy in spots but ably highlights the moments of incomparable drama. dudes getting killed a few minutes before they would have reunited with family, the supreme joy of liberation day/night, heroism, faint but significant noble surrender on part of some germans. Really amazing moment when a bunch of freed jews -- who had been on their way to concentration camp before very long -- shed their yellow star patches in the courtyard of a prison, described as resembling a bed of fallen autumn leaves. also charles de gaulle was like a grand master of being impudently french, but i am maybe late to the game on realizing that. anyway a crowd-pleaser if you are into WWII histories and looking for something breezy. PS for eternity hitler was still the worst dude.