The Collapse of the Third Republic: An Inquiry into the Fall of France in 1940

The National Book Award–winning historian’s “vivid and moving” eyewitness account of the fall of France to Hitler’s Third Reich at the outset of WWII (The New York Times).
 
As an international war correspondent and radio commentator during World War II, William L. Shirer didn’t just research the fall of France. He was there. In just six weeks, he watched the Third Reich topple one of the world’s oldest military powers—and institute a rule of terror and paranoia. Based on in-person conversations with the leaders, diplomats, generals, and ordinary citizens who both shaped the events and lived through them, Shirer constructs a compelling account of historical events without losing sight of the human experience.
 
From the heroic efforts of the Freedom Fighters to the tactical military misjudgments that caused the fall and the daily realities of life for French citizens under Nazi rule, this fascinating and exhaustively documented account brings this significant episode of history to life.
 
“This is a companion effort to Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, also voluminous but very readable, reflecting once again both Shirer’s own experience and an enormous mass of historical material well digested and assimilated.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

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• The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler
• The Start, 1904-1930 (Twentieth Century Journey Book 1)
• "This Is Berlin": Radio Broadcasts from Nazi Germany
• A Native's Return, 1945-1988 (Twentieth Century Journey Book 3)
• The Roots of Appeasement
• Berlin Diary
• The Fall of France: The Nazi Invasion of 1940 (Making of the Modern World)
• Auschwitz and the Allies: A Devastating Account of How the Allies Responded to the News of Hitler's Mass Murder