Review: Rosbottom, When Paris Went Dark

[truepenny]

When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940-1944 by Ronald C. Rosbottom

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book is about the Nazi occupation of Paris and fits nicely in my Goodreads tag "dystopian nonfiction." It's well written, and Rosbottom clearly loves Paris deeply. I particularly liked the way he talked about the many secret Parises of the city, from the Metro to the hidden rooms in apartment buildings where Jews hid. It's also a book about collaboration (in the negative sense): about what that is, what it means, the imperceptible gradations along the spectrum from Vichy to the Resistance where French people had to place themselves. About what you do when the question is not abstract at all, but is present in the shape of a German officer in your favorite cafe. He also talks about the backlash after the liberation of Paris, in which people who were guilty of nothing were accused of and executed for collaboration within the span of minutes and without any impediment like a trial or even a chance to speak.

This is a book about a city, but it is also a book about how flawed human nature is.



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