Is Paris Burning? (1965)

Between de Gaulle and the Communists, I was rooting for Eisenhower. It was rather riveting, though.

This is a very accessible and entertaining read. The reader is left to explore the deeper politics on his own. This book will provide the motivation to do that. This is an important read. The French feared and denied the Nazi threat thru the 1930s which lead to disaster in 1940. It leaves one with the warning that, the price of liberty is eternal vigilance, which the French forgot. And, if a great people like the Germans could be so corrupted, then we all need to remain eternally vigilant to guard our souls.

To date I have read this book three times. The first time was in the mid 70s. It was in my Dad’s bookcase. I read it because it was there. As a teenager I had little understanding of the historical context. I read it then as a great historical adventure story. It fired my romantic view of Paris and a desire to see the locations of the story.

I read it the second time in 1984 after having visited Paris in the spring of 1983, and in anticipation of returning in the summer of 1984. I had the perspective of having been there and seen the bullet holes and strolled the Camps Elysees. At the time I was a young engineer living in Douala, Cameroon. I saw the spot on the banks of the Wouri River from where General Leclerc started his road back to Paris. There was a statue of him down town. I was living my own adventure and I was understood the epic sweep of the story and the courage of Leclerc, to start there, and travel so far, against such odds.

I read it the third time in August 2012 after numerous business visits to PAris over the years, the most recent a vacation in July of 2012 with my kids (I finsihed reading it on August 25th, the 67th anniversary of the liberation). This time I was struck more by the tragedy and pathos than the adventure. I noticed in my last visit that many of the bullet holes on the Police Prefecture have been filled since my previous visit. It was also poignant to me now that many of the people who lived these great events are gradually passing away. I was left with the sadness of a beautiful city and a romantic people that were so abused. Are we forgetting already? My teenage daughter noticed me reading it my third time. Paris had moved her, and so she asked to borrow it. I said “Sure, read it (she’ll love the real love stories and the danger), and think, it could all happen again, anywhere, even in America, if we don’t remember". ( )

Paris itself is a Hero of this story and the German, and presumably Nazi party member, General Von Choltitz is another. It is difficult to imagine now, from the perspective of a new century, just how much raw courage it must have taken to defy Hitler and the Nazi Regime of WWII. But Choltitz, the last Nazi Commandant of occupied Paris, did just that – repeatedly and persistently defying, ignoring and circumventing Hitler’s mad order that Paris, the world’s city of light, must be burned and destroyed on the German retreat.

Von Choltitz’s defiance, despite his family still being back in Germany, virtual hostages to Hitler’s murderous madness, saved this city from the careful plans of destruction by explosives and fire. With a mixture of machination, Nelsonian ‘blindness’, the connivance of Frenchmen and the creative ‘loss’ of communications Choltitz ensured the order was not carried out. This reflects his sense of historic responsibility and great personal courage and this brave and exceptional General deserves better and wider recognition. As does his defiance of even a personal direct order from Hitler – he defied and survived. An interesting outcome considering all those legal defenses built upon the claim that ‘Direct Orders’ in Nazi times left no choice but obedience that were consistently deployed in Germany.

An excellent well written book that grips the readers interest with a firm hold.

Excellent book. Great history and very well written. ( )

891 Is Paris Burning? by Larry Collins and Dominique LaPierre (read 27 Jan 1967) When I read these authors' book Freedom at Midnight on 3 March 1991 I said to myself: "I remember I did not think much of the author's technique when I read this book. So it was with some hesitation that I began their later book." But I enjoyed Freedom at Midnight very much, so either their technique improved, or my appreciation of it improved. But at the time I read this book I did not like it, being it is so journalistic and relies so much on oral interviews and ignores other research. ( )