Four must-read books by late Dominique Lapierre

The French author of “City of Joy,” who has died on 4 December at the age of 91, wrote several books that spanned international events, including the Nazi occupation of Paris and works on India.

The French author, who was born on 30 July, 1931, wrote several books, including biographies, history works and travelogues.

Published in 1965, “Is Paris Burning?” is a historical account of the liberation of the French capital from Nazi occupation during WWII.

Lapierre wrote it together with Larry Collins, a former US soldier, who later became the French writer’s good friend.

The book was also adapted into a film in 1966 with an international star cast that included French actors Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon, American stars like Kirk Douglas, Orson Welles and Glenn Ford, and German actors Gert Fröbe and Hannes Messemer.

German star Romy Schneider had also filmed a cameo that was later removed from the final movie.

“Is Paris Burning?” was directed by Rene Clement, while Francis Ford Coppola and Gore Vidal were part of the team of screenwriters.

The duo of writers also worked together on the book “O Jerusalem!” (1972). It is a historic account of the creation of Israel beginning from the battle of Jerusalem in 1948.

The authors spent two years researching archives and speaking to Arabs and Israelis alike to recreate the historic struggle in which militias from the two sides were engaged in a battle for control over the city.

The book was adapted into a film in 2006 by French director Elie Chouraqui, but did not receive good reviews.

Published in 1985, “City of Joy” tells the story of Hasari Pal, a rickshaw puller, a Polish priest called Stephan Kovalski, and an American doctor called Max Loeb, who all find themselves in the city of Calcutta and endure hardships at different levels.

The novel, also written together with Larry Collins, was a huge success and was also adapted into a movie in 1992 by British director Roland Joffe. The film featured American actor Patrick Swayze, and Indian film stars Om Puri and Shabana Azmi.

Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins once again picked India as a theme for their historical book, “Freedom at Midnight.”

Published in 1975, the book is a historical account of how India achieved independence from British colonial oppressors and dives deep into themes like the drawing of boundaries to demarcate Pakistan from India and the partition of the country in 1947.

The French author also wrote “Five Past Midnight in Bhopal: The Epic Story of the World’s Deadliest Industrial Disaster” (2001), which details the events that occurred in the Union Carbide pesticide plant in the central Indian city in 1984, exposing hundreds of thousands of people to the deadly methyl isocyanate gas.

Dominique Lapierre was unabashed about his love for India, as described in his memoir, “India mon amour” (2010).

Other works include “Is New York Burning?” (2005) with Larry Collins and “A Rainbow in the Night: The Tumultuous Birth of South Africa” (2008).