Gen. Eisenhower addresses American paratroopers prior to D-Day. US Army photo (5 June 1944)
We tend to make a lot of jokes at the expense of the television weather people. How can you make a mistake when you have the $7,000,000 Doppler system? In Southern California the joke was why they were paid for predicting weather that every day was 75 degrees, no clouds, and no rain.Here’s the story of one of the most important weather forecasts in modern history.Read More The Historical Weather Forecast
The Sorrow and the Pity, a film by Marcel Ophüls (1969)
It takes a special event to pull Sandy and myself away from the television when the British Open takes over our weekend. Yet, it happened this year. Right in the middle of the Open on Sunday, we spent over four hours watching a 1971 Oscar® nominated documentary film.
I’m deep into my research for the next book, Where Did They Put the GestapoHeadquarters? A Walking Tour of Nazi Occupied Paris (1940–1944). Right now I’m focusing on the French Resistance, its members, and the foreign agents that supported the resistance movement. As part of the research, I’m “meeting” many brave men and women who were real Résistants—not the ones who put the armband on when it became clear the Allies were close to liberating the country (and Paris) in the summer of 1944. These incredible people were the resistance fighters who knew what the ultimate penalty would be for being captured by the Nazis and turned over to the Gestapo.Read More Sorrow and Pity
“Informative and entertaining, Stew Ross’ newest work evokes a difficult and frightening time in the history of the City of Light. The detailed descriptions of sites such as the Vél’ d’hiv’ or Gestapo headquarters reminds us of the choices people made during those years.”
Cynthia Bisson, PhD, Professor of History, Belmont University, French Resistant Expert
“Stew blends the dark history of buildings in Paris that are associated with the infamous deeds of the Gestapo with contrasting insights into the bravery of the French people, who, at great risk to themselves and their families, secretly resisted the German Occupation.”
Stanley Booker, MBE, RAF (Ret.), Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur