Discusses the resistance against the Nazis that developed in the year that followed Operation Valkyrie, the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944.

Introduction -- War, atrocities, resistance -- The coup against Hitler -- From failing hands : the coup in Paris -- Paris, July 20, 1944 : the SS locked down -- The resistance's last hope : Rommel against Hitler -- Hitler's revenge -- Did a Prussian save Paris? -- To destroy the City of Light -- Paris in revolt -- Paris liberated, Paris spared -- Normandy south : the invasion of southern France -- Forts and fortresses : Toulon -- Europe's lifeline : Marseille -- Violence comes home : preparing the defense of the Reich -- To destroy Germany : Hitler and scorched earth -- Fighting to the last man : the allies at the Rhine -- Hitler rages -- The Siege of Dusseldorf -- Dying so that they may live : central Germany -- Nuremberg's destruction, Heidelberg's salvation : southern Germany -- A citizens' revolt : Augsburg -- "We, the women of Freiburg, beg you" : the French occupation of southern Germany -- A house of cards : the Soviet assault on the Reich -- Saving Caspar David Friedrich's city -- Finishing the job that Bomber Harris started : Hamburg -- Escaping the Soviet net : Walther Wenck and the flight across the Elbe -- Conclusion.