In the last months of the war, Hitler ordered the poisoning, blocking, and wrecking of all ports across Europe; the destruction of all industries, railroads, bridges, utilities supplies, archives and museums in Europe; and the destruction of the most beautiful city in the world: Paris. Thanks to the determination and bravery of a few, including those who paid with their lives, Hitler's orders were often disobeyed. The result was a profound and lasting effect on the war and its aftermath. In this fascinating and gripping book, Randall Hansen explores the extraordinary phenomenon of disobedience and its consequences: Would Rommel have opened the Western Front to the Allies on July 20, 1944 had he not been shot up a few days earlier? Did Albert Speer single-handedly prevent the destruction of bridges, factories, towns,and all features of civilized life? CONTENTS 1. War, Atrocities, Resistance 2. The Coup against Hitler 3. From Failing Hands: The Coup in Paris 4. Paris, July 20, 1944: The SS Locked Down 5. The Resistance’s Last Hope: Rommel against Hitler 6. Hitler’s Revenge 7. Did a Prussian Save Paris? 8. To Destroy the City of Light 9. Paris in Revolt 10. Paris Liberated, Paris Spared 11. Normandy South: The Invasion of Southern France 12. Forts and Fortresses: Toulon 13. Europe’s Lifeline: Marseille 14. Violence Comes Home: Preparing the Defence of the Reich 15. To Destroy Germany: Hitler and Scorched Earth 16. Fighting to the Last Man: The Allies at the Rhine 17. Hitler Rages 18. The Siege of Düsseldorf 19. Dying So That They May Live: Central Germany 20. Nuremberg’s Destruction, Heidelberg’s Salvation: Southern Germany 21. A Citizens’ Revolt: Augsburg 22. “We, the women of Freiburg, beg you”: The French Occupation of Southern Germany 23. A House of Cards: The Soviet Assault on the Reich 24. Saving Caspar David Friedrich’s City 25. Finishing the Job That Bomber Harris Started: Hamburg 26. Escaping the Soviet Net: Walther Wenck and the Flight across the Elbe
