This newly published book to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Paris is a short book as Smith is 86 years old.
But it is an excellent book that conveys the drama and efforts by Eisenhower, De Gaulle and Von Choltitz in particular to save Paris from destruction as the German army retreated. Unlike other books or articles which said that Choltitz was persuaded to save Paris by the Swedish consul general in Paris, Raoul Nordling , Smith relying on the diary of a German aide and 2 memoirs of Choltitz contends that Choltitz already had agreed with his German predecessor to save Paris.
Smith also narrates the role played by Raoul Nordling who asked Von Choltitz to save thousands of prisoners from execution by the SS and Gestapo. { p 79}. Von Choltitz also frustrated Hitler’s effort to seize the Bayeux tapestry from the Louvre to Berlin {p 82}. Admittedly, the diversion to save Paris prolonged the war by 6 months but Smith believes that this political decision was worth it.
This is an excellent short 205 page book. Readers looking for a detailed military history of the retaking of Paris by the Allies should read Eleven days in August by Matthew Cobb. Readers looking for a wonderful history of Paris post liberation should read Paris after the Liberation 1944- 1949 by the wife and husband team Artemis Cooper and Sir Antony Beevor.
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