The secrets of the City of Light, revealed in the lives of the great, the near-great, and the forgotten—by the author of the acclaimed The Discovery of France. This is the Paris you never knew. From the Revolution to the present, Graham Robb has distilled a series of astonishing true narratives, all stranger than fiction, of the lives of the great, the near-great, and the forgotten. A young artillery lieutenant, strolling through the Palais-Royal, observes disapprovingly the courtesans plying their trade. A particular woman catches his eye; nature takes its course. Later that night Napoleon Bonaparte writes a meticulous account of his first sexual encounter. A well-dressed woman, fleeing the Louvre, takes a wrong turn and loses her way in the nameless streets of the Left Bank. For want of a map—there were no reliable ones at the time—Marie-Antoinette will go to the guillotine. Baudelaire, the photographer Marville, Baron Haussmann, the real-life Mimi of La Bohème, Proust, Adolf Hitler touring the occupied capital in the company of his generals, Charles de Gaulle (who is suspected of having faked an assassination attempt in Notre Dame)—these and many more are Robb’s cast of characters, and the settings range from the quarries and catacombs beneath the streets to the grand monuments to the appalling suburbs ringing the city today. The result is a resonant, intimate history with the power of a great novel.
Graham Robb is the author of three prize-winning biographies, each selected as New York Times Best Books. His books, including The Discovery of Middle Earth, Parisians, and The Discovery of France, have earned several awards. He lives on the Anglo-Scottish border.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Map xii
Departure 1
One Night at the Palais-Royal 9
The Man Who Saved Paris 25
Lost 43
Restoration 61
Files of the Sûreté 91
A Property in Bohemia 113
Marville 135
Regression 157
Madame Zola 175
Marcel in the Métro 199
The Notre-Dame Equation 217
A Little Tour of Paris 247
Occupation 269
Lovers of Saint-Germain-des-Prés 285
The Day of the Fox 315
Expanding the Domain of the Possible 347
Périphérique 381
Sarko, Bouna and Zyed 403
Terminus: The North Col 423
Chronology 437
Sources 447
Index of Paris and Conurbation 463
General Index 471
Acknowledgements 477
What People are Saying About This
From the Publisher
"Simon Vance narrates the history with an eloquent British-accented voice that leaves room for human moments and humor.... The strong sense of place in Robb's descriptions may make listeners feel like they're visiting the City of Lights." -AudioFile