Publishers Weekly
08/12/2019
In this thrilling WWII history from Harding (Dawn of Infamy), two lives collide in a story of bravery, sacrifice, and love. Joe Cornwall was an American B-17 crew member flying missions into German territory. Yvette Morin was a member of the French Resistance. On July 14, 1943, Cornwall participated in one of the Allies’ largest bombing missions. His plane was shot down, and he went on the run in Nazi-occupied France. Resistance members helped him reach Paris, and that’s where he crossed paths with Morin. Long-term caretakers of Hôtel des Invalides, the large historic veterans hospital and Napoleon’s tomb in the center of Paris, the Morin family had been using their roles as keepers of the keys to the complex’s secret passageways and underground tunnels to hide members of the French Resistance and downed Allied airmen. It didn’t take long for the American airman and the beautiful French Resistance fighter to fall in love, before tragedy separated them. Drawing on interviews with a still-feisty Yvette, now 90, and unfettered access to the Joe’s papers and letters, Harding masterfully recreates thrilling details of air combat, the intrigue of the French Resistance, and the horrors of war. This masterfully told and dramatic tale will keep readers spellbound until the final page. Agent: Scott Mendel, Mendel Media Group. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
"Stephen Harding has done it again. With this well-researched, well-written and genuinely exciting account of American airmen shot down over Occupied France and hidden by the French Resistance in Paris, he has proved that he has an extraordinary feel for the hitherto untold stories of World War II."—Andrew Roberts, bestselling author of Churchill: Walking with Destiny
"Escape from Paris is a thrilling, brilliantly told true tale of heroism, love, and escape, set in the dark shadows of Nazi Paris. Tense and compulsively readable from beginning to end."—Alex Kershaw, bestselling author of The First Wave
"Escape from Paris has the emotional pull of a great thriller, yet it's a true and memorable account of the interlinked heroism of courageous American bomber crews downed in enemy territory and intrepid French resisters who risked everything to spirit them to safety. History of a high order rendered with verve and riveting authenticity."
—Donald L. Miller, bestselling author of Masters of the Air
"From the first exhilarating moments of a fierce air battle over France, Stephen Harding delivers page-after-page of high adventure, intrigue and drama. He paints a vivid, unforgettable portrait of Nazi-occupied Paris and the efforts of a band of resistance fighters who risk everything to secret downed Allied airmen to freedom. Bravo!"—Neal Bascomb, author of The Escape Artists
"From Stephen Harding, a brilliant and thrilling recreation of a great World War II story, a story of love in time of war. Harding is a scrupulous and knowledgeable author and, caution; you will not put Escape from Paris down until you've finished it. Very highly recommended."—Alan Furst, New York Times bestselling author of Mission to Paris
"Stephen Harding's Escape from Paris is fascinating and a terrific read. I honestly could not turn the pages fast enough. It is thrilling and terrifying in equal measure; an amazing story of love and resistance that — almost unbelievably — happens to be true."
—Anne Sebba, award-winning author of Les Parisiennes
"In this thrilling WWII history,... Harding masterfully recreates thrilling details of air combat, the intrigue of the French Resistance, and the horrors of war. This masterfully told and dramatic tale will keep readers spellbound until the final page."—Publishers Weekly
A poignant World War II saga of the relationship between an American gunner shot down over France and the French family who helped him...an engaging human story—Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
2019-08-04
A poignant World War II saga of the relationship between an American gunner shot down over France and the French family who helped him.
In his latest, Military History editor-in-chief Harding (Dawn of Infamy: A Sunken Ship, a Vanished Crew, and the Final Mystery of Pearl Harbor, 2016, etc.) tells the story of Joe Cornwall, who was part of the joint American and British group targeting Le Bourget airport near Paris on Bastille Day 1943. A horrendous collision sent Cornwall and some other survivors parachuting into the French countryside to spend months evading capture by the Germans. By a remarkable stroke of luck—and the help of kindly French people—Cornwall and a few of his buddies were directed to the shelter of the concierges of the famed Hôtel des Invalides in Paris, the home of invaluable works of art as well as famous tombs such as that of Napoleon. In the vast subterranean maze of the hotel, Georges Morin, a disabled veteran of World War I with a hatred for the Germans—along with his wife, Denise, and adult daughter, Yvette—sheltered several of the Allied soldiers. Harding gradually builds the suspense regarding the blossoming love between Cornwall and Yvette with nicely specific details of life in the Army and in occupied Paris. Eventually, the urgency of making the "home run" back to base in England required most of the survivors of the group to take the perilous route through Spain and the Pyrenees to Gibraltar. Ultimately, Cornwall did make the route home, somewhat later than his comrades, having secured an engagement with Yvette. Little did he know the perils that the Morins would face when they fell into the hands of the Gestapo.
An engaging human story of the complicated and fraught relationship between the French and their American allies.
