Culture | The night that nearly broke Paris

The long shadow of the Paris terrorist attacks of 2015

November 13th shook the French capital—but has not changed it

Flowers, candles and a toy Eiffel Tower are pictured at a makeshift memorial near the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, France on November 15th 2015
Darkness, despite the candle lightPhotograph: Getty Images

A convoy of three rental cars left Charleroi, Belgium, and crossed into France, heading towards Paris. They carried ten jihadists on a mission to spread terror throughout the French capital—and capture the attention of the world. On Friday November 13th 2015, wearing suicide jackets and heavily armed, they murdered 130 people and wounded hundreds more at three sites in Paris: the Bataclan music venue, nearby terrace cafés and outside the national stadium, Stade de France. It was the deadliest attack on French soil since the second world war.

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This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “The night that nearly broke Paris”

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