Is Paris Burning?

By: Larry Collins, Dominique Lapierre

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson

"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)

Is Paris Burning?

Interesting and had no idea about this story. This is something that seems to have been passed over in history lessons. If someone different had been sent to Paris, a large part of history would have been changed. Enjoyed the book.

excellent book but recording not so great

great narrative but hard to hear reader. A great read! A different narrator might help.

I enjoyed this book a great deal

Very compelling history. I had no idea how close Paris had come to destruction, saved by a German general disobeying direct orders from Hitler, and diverting allied troops intent on bypassing Paris on their way to Berlin.

Is Paris Burning?

I decided to revisit this book after reading it decades ago and loving it then. I hoped it had held up over the years. It is STILL a fascinating, sweep-you-along, joyous, heartbreaking tale of the liberation of Paris. Better even the second time, when I could bring maturity to the book

Great Book Wonderfully Read

Been on my 'to read' list for years. Now it's off because I listened to it while walking.....miles. Got lost in the story and would walk longer than I planned for several days. Great book.