I love historical stories, especially those set in Paris, and this one did not disappoint! I enjoyed the harrowing adventure and uncertain future of the bombers shot down on Bastille Day. Will definitely read another by the author!

Escape from Paris is the true story of American aviators whose four B-17 Flying Fortresses were shot down over German occupied France on July 14, 1943, a date better known as Bastille Day. Some were rescued by French civilians, determined to help the aviators escape and rejoin their compatriots. The bulk of the book is a love story, as one particular airman, Joe Cornwall, finds happiness amid the danger.

I am a big reader of World War II history, but I am not really a fan of military history. The beginning of this book is all that, as it describes the bombers and military strategy in a dry manner.
The ways in which the men manage to escape, as well as their dealings with the French resistance, do not come through as it must have felt from the perspective of the individuals involved. The love story seems more pieced together than 100% factual, as the author uses phrases like "he must have felt".

Yvette and her family should be pushed more to the forefront for their courage and assistance, instead of the young woman and her relationship with Joe. Overall, I learned a lot of facts about Bastille Day and about the B-17 bombers, but I wanted to feel like I was living the history through the aviators and those who helped them. For the reasons listed above, I would be hesitant to recommend Escape From Paris to other readers.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Reader's Copy of Escape From Paris: A True Story of Love and Resistance in Wartime France by NetGalley and the publisher, Da Capo Press. The decision to read and review this book was entirely my own

The book is okay. It has a decent story but is slow in places and the love story does not feel all that like a love story, which is pretty common for that era.
It was a noce read but beyond that I would not read it again, and would not add it to a classroom.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

Stephen Harding did historic research on a mission of allied fighter planes shot down over France on Bastille Day during WWII. Escape from Paris covers both intimate and broad details of those pilots and their journeys back to their units with the help of the French Resistance. Harding starts with a brief background on the pilot, Joe Cornwall, as well as that of the French ‘hiders,’ the Morin family.
The amount of details is amazing, including what the pilots wore and had for breakfast. I am not fond of battle reports, so that section was the least interesting for me. This was not the right book for me, as I am not fond of battles, airplanes and journalistic type writing. Harding writes in a scholarly fashion, so comparisons to the novel, The Nightingale, aren’t accurate. The third person writing does not go into feelings and motives of characters but reports on what happened with extensive footnotes. The 'love' part of the story was pretty blase. The bibliography is huge for those who want to know more about such events.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thorough, informative, and interesting. Escape From Paris is fitting for those romantics inquisitive about history and aviation. Without a desire to devour the details, this book will be slow for you. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself educated, thrilled, and charmed at the same time.

I found this story very slow moving and difficult to get into, therefore I did not finish reading it. It just didn't capture my interest, sorry!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advance copy.

I found it difficult to put down once I started reading. Fast passed, well-researched, and interesting discussion about what allied forces, evaders, and the resistance went through to ensure return from occupied territory to England coupled with what the resistance faced in concentration camps following arrest. Harding's writing style is crisp and engaging and the detailed notes help to expand the information within the text.
Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the e-copy in exchange for my honest review.

Review for Escape from Paris by Stephen Harding

3⭐

Escape from Paris is billed as a True story of love and resistance in wartime France, and for the most part that is true. But for me it seemed like the author was searching for a way to reach more readers. For the first 1/3 of the book it was very dry, technical reading but then the main character, Joe, reaches his base in Europe and begins flying bombing missions. The story picks up from there. The plane Joe is on crashes, he survives and is picked up by the resistance in France. The book was very well researched and documented, however the part of the story that actually kept me interested took to long to evolve.

Thank you to Netgalley and @dacapopressbooks for the copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed reading this book for all the details about wartime France, the resistance movement, and the accounts of downed American aviators' experiences as they were smuggled back to the Allies. The love story element was only a piece of the overall tale, but it made the history come alive with a very human perspective. Using first-hand narratives and personal interviews as his raw material, Harding has crafted an engaging and enlightening spotlight on those fliers who made great personal sacrifices to answer the nation's call to combat. In addition, he clearly depicts the sacrifices that many French men and women made to help bring the war to an end; the most affecting part of the book for me was reading what the resistance fighters endured after being captured by the Germans. World War II history buffs should enjoy this one!
I was provided a free e-copy of the book by Netgalley.com for my objective review.

Escape from Paris is a thoroughly researched book that focuses on a small group of pilots who were shot down by the Germans. This is not a light read, but it is an exciting story.

A wonderful historical fiction read that is centered in war time Paris . I loved the rich charcters, the nuances of surviving during war time and the relationships the author created. This is a very enjoyable read for all who love this time period .
Thank you for the ARC. My review opinions are my own. Cross posted review.

In this book we meet charcters that are complex living among the worse of times in the city they love and hope to save. There are many adventures and events that draw the reader into the time and place. I enjoyed the side of romance and how those in love as couples were affected during this terrible time. It was a very believable read for fiction and a book I enjoyed escaping to . I loved the French Resistance and the Americans they interacted with and protected. This has everything you would want from a war time historical fiction read and is always a great charcter study of differing sides during the war.

This is a great read for anyone that loves the WWII era of historical reading. The author obviously spent a lot of time researching the bomber crew and wrote a captivating account of what their time was like during this war.

A moving and thoroughly researched story of the escape of an American arial gunner, whose plane crashed during a bombing mission over France. While on the run, he met and fell in love with a member of the French Resistance.

I loved that this book was exciting and very readable, based on many primary sources. Books about experiences of Resistance members and civilians during the war are getting fairly common, but rarely are they as readable and exciting as this one.

I loved it.

“Escape from Paris” tells the intensely personal WWII war stories of Joe Cornwall and his french rescuer, Yvette Morin. While many of these stories are being published, both fiction and non-fiction, it is touching to become better acquainted with the young airmen who fought so bravely, and the equally brave résistantes who provided them shelter and help in returning home.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4 stars

This is a well written story of the near capture and escape of some American flyers in France during WWII.

The book spends quite a bit of time setting up the scene, such as describing the B-17 planes and the structure of the flying corps. It talks about the individual soldiers, but the main focus is on Joe who is one of the bombardiers. Shot down and avoiding capture by the Germans is a harrowing part of the tale.

The soldiers find some helpful French citizens who escort them to Hotel des Invalides. This is a huge collection of buildings inhabited by the Nazis, but unbeknownst to them, it is also the place of a family who belong to a resistance group. The Nazis are arrogant enough to assume that the fortress is unassailable. These brave resistance souls help the airmen to find their way back to England.

What I liked about this book was that it is based on actual historical events. I am unsure how much is actually true, but it makes very good reading for the relatively uninitiated to the history of WWII. I liked the facts given about the planes and so on. As I said earlier, it is well written and plotted. One event logically follows another. I liked the colorful descriptions. It is very well researched, complete with footnotes.

I want to thank NetGalley and Hatchette Books/Da Capo Press for forwarding to me a copy of this very good book to read, enjoy and review.

This is a solid 3 star book! I truly did not feel it was much of a love story and it was a bit technical while reading about the missions and airplane.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Hachette Books for this advanced readers copy. The release date is set for October, 2019.

Escape from Paris is advertised as the story of several B-17 crews shot down over France about a year before D-Day. Many of the men were rescued by French civilians and sent on an escape route out of the country. This took the men to the Hôtel des Invalides, a complex in Paris that formerly served as French military offices, a hospital, and memorials and now serving as a Nazi office space. They were helped by the Morin family, who lived and worked in the complex for decades. The Morins, Georges, Denise, and their daughter Yvette, used their keys and vast knowledge of the complex to keep the men hidden right under the German noses.

Much of this story focused on Joe Cornwall, a waist gunner of one of the B-17s. His background and training are intermixed within the beginning of the book’s focus on training B-17 crews and Morin family background. Joe had multiple aborted “home runs” back to his base in England, but each time something went wrong and he returned to the Morin’s home. During that time, he had a growing attachment with Yvette.

While this story is sure to intrigue those with little knowledge of World War II, those with more expansive knowledge will be disappointed. The book spends a great deal of time setting up the story by telling how the Morins came to the Invalides, the early days of the war in Paris, and the B-17 crew’s training and early missions. This left little time for the advertised story of the escape to play out and what did in a hundred or so pages felt rushed and incomplete. I felt like I skimmed more than I read since I had that core knowledge. Still this “pop history” title will appeal to some, especially since it is grounded in interviews with several profiled and numerous historical documents. I had thought this would have been a book I would have enjoyed, but the focus on the events leading up to the advertised story derailed the focus of the book for me.

The Morin family—Georges, his wife Denise, and daughter Yvette—are caretakers at the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris. They hide Allied airmen, including American Joe Cornwall of the 94th Bomb Group.
During the time together, Joe and Yvette fall in love and promise to marry after the war. Joe escapes back to England. The Morin family is arrested by the Germans with frightful consequences.
After the war, Yvette chose to remain in Paris to care for her mother. The war brought Joe and Yvette together, but peace separated them.
The way the Morins’ lives turn out is so sad. They did what was right and suffered horribly. Had Denise and Yvette known what happened to Georges, they probably would have found closure and had a happier rest-of-their-lives.
Escape from Paris offers a horrifying view of life in a country occupied by a brutal enemy, and the courage required to resist evil.

I was a little confused about this book. Is it non-fiction? Is it a love story? Is it actually like The Nightingale, which is my favorite book? No, it was not like The Nightingale. I kept waiting for the historical love story, but the story is very fact driven. While there is nothing wrong with a book about WWII that is factual, I wasn't expecting quite the density that came. It was definitely not what I was expecting to read, but it was interesting.

Escape from Paris is the true story of an American WWII aviator shot down in France in 1943, the family of French patriots who sheltered him in Les Invalides in Paris, and the war-time romance between Joe and Yvette, the daughter of that family. I found this book full of new and interesting details - everything from bomber flight formations to more details of how the resistance network worked to get 'evaders' and others out of France and back home. Some of the technical parts of this story made it less than riveting, but overall it's a great story, and I learned a few new things. Many thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Books for the e-arc! A solid 4 stars.