Eleven Days in August: The Liberation of Paris in 1944 is out now, published by Simon & Schuster.
This site carries images, sounds, film and information that relate to the book. You can either browse through the posts chronologically, or, more usefully, click on the “subjects” that interest you on the right hand side and you will see all the posts that are under each of those subjects.
Here’s a short video we made to publicise the book:
This 30 minute newsreel was filmed and edited during the insurrection itself, and was shown around the world in the weeks following the liberation of Paris.
For more details about the making of the film, see Chapter 12; for a discussion of how the film helped shape views of the liberation, see the Epilogue. The commentary is in French, but even if you can’t understand what is being said, it is a stupendous account of events. Note that there Allies are barely mentioned, there is no explicit naming of any Resistance force, and the shootings on 26 August are not shown.
Some highlights:
• German evacuation at 2:00
• Some of the many posters at 3:00
• Luizet takes control of the Préfecture at 5:15
• The scene inside the Préfecture de Police at 7:00
• Panzers on the prowl around the Hotel de Ville at 14:00
• Fighting at Batignolles (inlcuding Georges Dukson) at 15:00
• De Gaulle’s speech at the Hotel de Ville (24 August) at 24:00
• The 26 August parade, which is particularly atmospheric, begins at 26:45
Eleven Days in August 