The extraordinary true stories of German resistance to Hitler's murderous orders at the end of the Second World War. In the last months of World War II, Hitler ordered destruction across Europe on a massive scale: wrecking towns, ports, industries, museums and railways. Yet a brave few, many of whom paid with their lives, disobeyed Hitler's orders. In this fascinating and gripping book, Randall Hansen explores some of the great untold mysteries of the war. Was Rommel planning to open the Western Front to Allied forces as part of the plot to kill Hitler in 1944? Did Albert Speer single-handedly prevent the destruction of all features of civilised life across Europe? And did the actions of one Prussian general save Paris from total devastation?

Randall Hansen is Director of the Centre for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies and a Chair in Politics at the University of Toronto. His last book, The Fire and Fury: The Allied Bombing of Germany, 1942-5 was published in 2008 to great acclaim and was shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award. He divides his time between Toronto and Berlin.