Books, NonFiction

Escape from Paris by Stephen Harding

Worth A Read Yes
Length 288
Quick Review Joe, an American soldier, and Yvette, a young French woman in the resistance, fall in love at Les Invalides under the most unusual circumstances during World War II.

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In front of The Water Wall in Houston, Texas. | Escape from Paris by Stephen Harding | Dress | Purse | Shoes | Earrings |
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Escape from Paris | Dress | Shoes | Purse |

Available October 8, 2019

The world has an obsession with World War II. It was a new kind of war revolutionizing economies and industries around the world. The devastation and impact it had is still remarkable. With so many history books, novels, documentaries, TV shows, movies, and more, it can be easy to forget the individuals impacted by each decision, battle, success, and failure. People won the war. People lost the war. People lived lives during the war. Stephen Harding puts faces to these stories in Escape From Paris

Harding focuses on the 94th Bomb Group, a United States Air Force unit based in England flying missions over Germany and France. 

I’m going to be completely biased, I found the French part of this story far more interesting than the American aspect. This has nothing to do with the writing and everything to do with my personal interests. As a francophile and history buff, I am drawn to the French bits. 

Joe is an American, who enlisted in the Air Force when the war began. His bomber went down over Northern France during an air raid along with several other planes. Most did not survive, but Joe and several other did. Finding the resistance they ended up in Paris at Les Invalides. 

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Georges and Denise had been the caretakers of Les Invalides for many years when the war broke out. They joined the resistance along with their daughter, Yvette. There were resistance groups working separately and together throughout Europe. This family was in a unique situation as “the “caretakers of Invalides” literally carried the keys to what was arguably one of the safest hiding places in the country” because Les Invalides had been taken over by the Germans during the Occupation, which, counterintuitively, gave this family more freedom to aide the resistance effort while housing and hiding soldiers. It was a dangerous and brilliant plan due to the fact  “the Germans never thought to search what they assumed was a completely secure facility.”

There’s a love story in Escape from Paris, but I find it the least interesting bit about this book because personal taste. I did find it a little redundant because Harding felt the need to continually point out that this is a love story and that it’s not just about war, it’s about love too. I get it. He’s building up the human aspect of the story, but it’s not that interesting. The repetition borders on frustrating. The humanity is abundantly clear in his portraits of the people inhabiting this story. They lived lives before, during, and after the war. These were people who loved each other and their country. They fought in any way they could to protect what they believed in. The love story is sweet, but it’s the least impactful part of the story. If it wasn’t in the title, I probably would have forgotten it was in the book. Joe, Denise, Georges, and Yvette were incredible and brave people standing up for what they believed in.  

Escape from Paris is riddled with historical facts, airplane terminology, logistics, and more. If you’re not familiar with these terms and this kind of history book, you’ll want Google handy. I enjoyed reading this interesting and well researched book. It’s definitely one to read if you like WWII.  

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Title: Escape From Paris; A True Story of Love and Resistance in Wartime France
Author: Stephen Harding
Publisher: De Capo Press (Hachette Book Group)
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 9780306922169

Books

The Greater Journey

Read Yes
Length 558
Quick Review A great look into how Paris affected America and how America affected Paris in regards to art, science, and intellect over the last almost two centuries.

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I am a huge fan of David McCullough, who happens to be a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner. I think he is a fabulous scholar, author, and researcher. It is blatantly obvious he has a passion for history with an unparalleled ability to convey an immense amount of research without ever being dry.

The Greater Journey is about Americans who spent time living in Paris. Many of the Americans returned to the US after Paris, but a handful remained in France. The Americans flocked to Paris as the center of style, art, intellect, etc. Paris is commonly known to have been home to American writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway in the 1920’s, but Paris was home to many more American greats as much as a century before.

McCullough never lightly takes on the task of telling the history of a subject. He really goes all out. I always complain how a vast majority of scholars write incredibly dry books. They know so much about the subject that they try and cram in all the details but forget to make it interesting for the readers who do not eventually want to write a dissertation on the subject – so most. McCullough has never fallen into this category of academics. He is always engaging and interesting. I am always impressed by his thorough yet entertaining rhetoric.

I would highly suggest The Greater Journey. If you’re not interested in Americans in Paris, I do suggest his other books on topics ranging from the Brooklyn Bridge to John Adams to the Wright Brothers to American Pioneers and a bunch of other interesting stuff. He’s a great author and historian. I highly suggest him!

Memorable Quotes
“To Wendell Holmes she was a shining case in point of why women should not be excluded from a medical education.” about Madame La Chapelle

Title: The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris
Author: George McCullough
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Copyright: 2011
ISBN: 9781416571766