622. The Nazis at War: The Fall of France (Part 3)

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The episode opens with a reading from Speer's memoir describing Hitler's three-hour sightseeing tour of Paris after the fall of France in June 1940.

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Referenced when discussing the counterfactual of what would have happened if the 230,000 British troops at Dunkirk had been captured rather than evacuated, and how that might have forced Churchill to negotiate with Hitler.

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Mentioned as containing a quote from officer John Horsfall about sensing 'the national mood of defiance which brought down Napoleon and would destroy Hitler too' when troops returned from Dunkirk.

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Described as one of the longest diaries in history and 'quite a big publishing sensation a few years ago,' cited for her moving entry about feeling part of something undying after reading about the Dunkirk rescue.

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Mentioned as capturing the scene of total chaos and terror during the French refugee crisis, with carts in the streets, families rushing to find sanctuary, and being pounded from the air by the Luftwaffe.

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Described as a 'brilliant book on the fall of France' that argues France lost on the battlefield due to bad intelligence and bad tactics rather than a fundamental sickness in French society, and quotes a young sergeant named François Mitterrand.

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Referenced for pointing out that French conservatives had admired Hitler and Mussolini, and for citing the diary of Louisa Solmitz, a schoolteacher with a Jewish husband who felt exhilarated by the German victory in France.

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Briefly referenced when discussing tank commander Heinz Guderian, who was 'speechless' at the halt order and considered it 'the biggest blunder of the war.'