Few days in history have witnessed an emotional outpouring as overwhelming as that which accompanied the liberation of Paris. Yet few men realized, or even now comprehend, the miracle that had occurred: how narrowly all of Paris had escaped being reduced to rubble and ashes.

Dominique Lapierre - the noted French author - has several celebrated books to his credit, including City of Joy, Freedom on The Soviet Roads and Chessman Told Me. A Fulright scholar of economics at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, he travelled all over the world. In 1954, while serving in the French army, he met Larry Collins, a Yale graduate and draftee, to form an abiding friendship and literary partnership that produced renowned books such as Freedom at Midnight, O Jerusalam !, Mountbatten and the Partition of India.