The 1965 book by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre about August 1944: before, during and after the liberation by the Allies of Nazi-occupied Paris. Banally written, but some parts capture the urgency and exhilaration of the time--the entry of the first U.S. troops into Paris, French civilians and Americans battling the Germans in the streets, tank warfare on the Champs Elysees. The title refers to Hitler's wish that Paris be razed to the ground rather than surrendered to the Allies.