Is Paris Burning?

By: Larry Collins, Dominique Lapierre

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson

Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

"Is Paris burning?" is the question Hitler asked over and over as the French Second and American Fourth Divisions battered their way into the city.

Few moments in history are as stirring as the Allied liberation of Paris. Yet few people are aware of how narrowly, and how miraculously, the city escaped Hitler's secret plan to reduce it to ashes. Is Paris Burning? reconstructs, in meticulous and riveting detail, the network of fateful events, day by day, moment by moment, that saved the City of Light.

Best-selling authors and renowned journalists Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre spent three years researching this stirring book. They drew on French Resistance radio messages, German military records, and secret correspondence between de Gaulle, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Eisenhower. They tracked down and interviewed countless people: soldiers, civilians, Allied generals, and even the Nazi commandant who helped Paris fight for her life. And they re-created the drama, the fervor, and the triumph that heralded one of the most dramatic events of our time.

©1965 Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre (P)1994 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Is Paris Burning? is researched with meticulous and riveting detail, well narrated, and certain to keep you intrigued." (AudioFile)

Great Insight!

Great insight into the saving of Paris, the fates of war, the unseen factors that work for or against a nation.

Many factors, completely independent of each other, worked together at critical times to save Paris from certain destruction. This includes certain brave, courageous and long sighted individual that did at times conspire together.

This book documents that with great accuracy and a very easy timeline.

Also, the book has several interesting and poignant facts or stories that I have not heard anywhere else.

There is humor at times and more things that I found humor in that I am sure the authors didn't necessarily intend.

Well worth the listen!

Well done

I recently acquired the unabridged audiobook, after having the hardback languish on my shelves so long that I sold it to the used book store. Glad to have finally got to "read" this one. The book does a good job of introducing a good number of characters. Some of the figures are covered in less depth than others, despite probably being as interesting as LeClerc or any of the other major figures. Some minor participants have interesting highlights. This isn't a life altering book. It is an interesting look from a primarily French and German viewpoint on the Paris uprising and its eventual liberation by LeClerc's 2nd Armored.

Silly restriction on sharing short passages

There some wonderful passages here.
About freedom, paradoxically.
But they are usually last longer than 30 seconds.
They would be great to share, and when I do others often say they will buy the book. But the 30 sec rule is silly. Keep your 4-5minute limit if you must, but let us poor mice out of your 30second maze. Let meaningful word of mouth advertisement begin.

The best WWII story

I have close to 100 Audible books now, most being WWII history. This has become my favorite, now ahead of The Longest Day. I absolutely LOVE Paris and have been there many times. Although the movie is terrific, the book gets into such fine detail, allowing me to follow, by map and memory, all of the locations in Paris that I remember from my trips. Thank God that Dietrich von Cholitz saved this beautiful city.

Great background for travel to Paris/Normandy

Listened to this as part of a self-imposed history crash course before a trip to Paris. Great book, ageless. I had no clue until about midway thru it (when it occurred to me there is no way these people were still alive to interview) that it was written in the 60s. Couple of downsides - it was extremely hard to follow some of the segments via audio due to all the many players, no map - and my total lack of knowledge around anything related to the military. Also, the narrator was great at character voices, but left a lot to be desired everywhere else. Still very worth it, especially the last of the 3 parts.

An incredible story

It's hard to believe that that this book got written. Collins & Lapierre have left no stone unturned. Everyone, whether a big or a small player in this dramatic story, has been interviewed. As a result, the book is a gripping account not of just the big event - the liberation of Paris - but the hundreds of people involved and their emotions, actions and rationale during the days and weeks leading up to the Allied forces entering the city.

The reader is somewhat arch and this detracts somewhat from the story - but not very much and I wouldn't let that deter you. It's a wonderful tale that reads almost like a novel. And it's very intense.

Brings liberation of Paris to life with detail and good writing.

I wanted to learn more about the French civilians, resistance fighters, and DeGualle's part in the liberation and not just the Allies part. I found the accounts well written with interesting details, including stories about the German occupiers and their fates. Chock full of fascinating details, so often I replayed chapters to garner more. If this period of history is of interest to you, you will surely enjoy this book.

Fascinating Days and More Heroes Revealed

As World War II came to a close a variety of groups had plans and strategies for the ensuing months. While we all know how the war ended, the details of these days and story of these players gave me a greater appreciation for their commitments to country and courage. If you enjoy history of this period and haven't read much of the final months specific to the liberation of Paris, I think you will find this book fascinating. This was a fast paced story (as was the march to Paris). The book sets a tone and is so fully detailed that it does seem to place the reader in the midst of these days. Information presented about the Nazi general in Paris and his thoughts about his role were very surprising and gave me new insight. The narration is very good, much as you would expect from a good documentary. Vive le France!

An astonishing book on the liberation of Paris

I absolutely love this book. It is beautifully written, and reads like a thriller. I particularly enjoyed the personal anecdotes from various characters sprinkled throughout. These authors, did an amazing job tracking down their sources in France, Germany and America. My love for the amazing city of light has only deepened with the understanding of how close we came to losing it.

Difficult to follow

What disappointed you about Is Paris Burning??

I found the narrator's voice distracting. Plus the story jumped around so much with so many characters I felt lost quite often.

Would you ever listen to anything by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre again?

Probably not

What didn’t you like about Frederick Davidson’s performance?

I found his voice very annoying.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

The topic is fascinating but unfortunately given how complicated it was a clearer story line would have been better.