Rosbottom_WhenParisWentDarkSubscribers, When Paris When Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940-1944 by Ronald C. Rosbottom, who is the Winifred L. Arms Professor in the Arts and Humanities and a professor of French and European Studies at Amherst College. Free book giveaway to two subscribers ends March 23, 2015. An $18 U.S. paperback value.

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June 14, 1940, German tanks entered a silent and deserted Paris. The City of Light was occupied by the Third Reich. Parisians were stunned, humiliated, and yet curious about the sudden appearance of thousands of German soldiers on their boulevards. The Germans too were curious: How do you treat a city that did not fire a shot in its own defense?

This expansive narrative will fascinate readers who are interested in exploring the continuing legacy of World War II, Jewish history, and the role of art in a repressive environment—and, of course, lovers of France. (Purchase)

Praise for When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940-1944

When Paris Went Dark recounts, through countless compelling stories, how Nazi occupation drained the light from Paris and how many of its residents resisted in ways large and small. This is a rich work of history, a brilliant recounting of how hope can still flourish in the rituals of daily life.” — Scott Turow, author of Identical

“Ronald Rosbottom has re-created the Parisian world during the dark days of the German occupation like no previous writer I know. His secret is twofold: first, exhaustive research that allows him to recover what we might call the importance of the ordinary; and second, a shrewd grasp of how memory works, often in strange ways.” —Joseph J. Ellis, Ford Foundation Professor Emeritus at Mount Holyoke College, author of Founding Brothers, American Sphinx, and Revolutionary Summer

Excerpts from When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940-1944 by Ronald C. Rosbottom. Copyright © 2014 by Ronald C. Rosbottom. Reprinted with permission of Little, Brown and Company (Part One)(Part Two).

Ronald Rosbottom_credit Kane HaffeyRonald C. Rosbottom is the Winifred Arms Professor in the Arts and Humanities and a professor of French and European Studies at Amherst College. Previously he was the dean of the faculty at Amherst and the chair of the Romance Languages Department at Ohio State University. He lives in Amherst, Massachusetts. (A Woman’s Paris interview with Ronald C. Rosbottom)

Photo credit: Kane Haffey

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