Book description
'Paris is the World, the rest of the Earth is nothing but its
suburbs' - Marivaux
In this intelligently-written and supremely entertaining new
history, Colin Jones seeks to give a sense of the city of Paris as it
was lived in and experienced over time. The focal point of generation
upon generation of admirers and detractors, a source of attraction or
repulsion even for those who have never been there, Paris has
witnessed more extraordinary events than any other major city. No spot
on earth has been more walked around, written about, discussed,
painted and photographed. With an eye for the revealing, startling and
(sometimes) horrible detail, Colin Jones takes the reader from Roman
Paris to the present, recreating the ups and downs in the history of
the city and its inhabitants. Attentive to both the urban environment
and to the experience of those who lived within it, PARIS: BIOGRAPHY
OF A CITY will be hugely enjoyed by habitual Paris obsessives, by
first-time visitors, and by those who know the city only by repute.
Colin Jones is Professor of History at the University of Warwick. He
is the author of The Great Nation (Penguin) and The Cambridge
Illustrated History of France.
