Darkness in the City of Light

The 1937 Paris Expo was supposed to be a dazzling spectacle embodying ‘the creative spirit of a generation’ and showcasing the many technological and artistic advancements of a world on its way back from the horrors of the Great War. Over the course of six months, more than forty million people flocked to see 280 pavilions set in the very heart of the French capital. The Expo’s 11,000 exhibits included those from 42 participating countries designed as a glorious celebration of such diverse disciplines as medicine, communications, science, arts, urban planning and craftsmanship

But the storm clouds of war were already gathering across Europe. The spectres of fascism and communism, class tensions, a civil war in Spain, and a refugee crisis among Europe's persecuted Jews eclipsed the festivities. Instead, the Expo served merely to highlight the political and ideological competition between its leading participants, in particular Germany and the Soviet Union whose pavilions towered monstrously sixty metres above those of the liberal democracies who sought to appease their antagonism.

In Darkness In The City of Light, Professor Michael Neiberg explores how, far from pulling the nations of Europe together, the 1937 Paris Expo became a roadmap of its fractured future. This innovative history offers a chilling view of the ominous fault lines of a continent about to break apart once again.