The Blood of Free Men: The Liberation of Paris, 1944

Neiberg's book about the final days of German-occupied Paris is in some ways a retelling of the story by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre four decades ago in Is Paris Burning??? But Neiberg adds a depth that the earlier work deliberately omitted. Collins and Lapierre opted for a journalistic, moment-by-moment account of events, whereas Neiberg offers a more panoramic view of events, placing them in the context of the relations among the respective Allies, which had different tactical and strategic aims during the campaign in France. Neiberg also focuses on the rivalries and competing postwar visions of the varying French Resistance factions and the Free French military and political leadership. Neiberg clearly does not intend to supersede or replace the earlier book, which he draws upon often, but his work makes an excellent companion to Is Paris Burning?