When Paris Went Dark

The spellbinding and revealing chronicle of the Nazi occupation of Paris during World War II.

“When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940-1944 resonated eerily with 2017 America. . . . This book is a compelling, sobering warning about the dangers of complacency in the face of intolerance.”-Celeste Ng, Wall Street Journal

On June fourteen, 1940, German tanks entered a silent and nearly deserted Paris. Eight days later, France accepted a humiliating defeat and foreign occupation. Subsequently, an eerie sense of normalcy settled over the City of Light. Many Parisians keenly adapted themselves to the situation-even allied themselves with their Nazi overlords.

At the same time, amidst this darkening gloom of German ruthlessness, shortages, and curfews, a resistance arose. Parisians of all stripes — Jews, immigrants, adolescents, communists, rightists, cultural icons such as Colette, de Beauvoir, Camus and Sartre, as well as police officers, teachers, students, and store owners — rallied around a little known French military officer, Charles de Gaulle.

When Paris Went Dark evokes with stunning precision the detail of daily life in a city under occupation, and the brave people who fought against the darkness. Relying on a range of resources—memoirs, diaries, letters, archives, interviews, personal histories, flyers and posters, fiction, photographs, film and historical studies—Rosbottom has forged a groundbreaking book that will forever influence how we understand those dark years in the City of Light.

“A riveting account of one of the most resonant hostage-takings in history. . . . An intimate, sweeping narrative, astute in its insight and chilling in its rich detail.” —Stacy Schiff, author of Cleopatra

“Rigorously researched and deeply compelling. . . . Rosbottom strikes a perfect tone that is neither too scholarly nor too familiar and produces a chronicle that edifies as it entertains.”-Malcom Forbes, Minneapolis StarTribune