Seven Ages of Paris: Portrait of a City

by Alistair Horne

In this wonderfully readable book, Alistair Horne tells the huge and romantic story of Paris through seven ages of turmoil and change: the Middle Ages, the 100 years war, the Paris of Louis XIV, the age of Napoleon, the Commune, the Empire days of Louis-Napoleon and Eugenie, and the First World War and De Gaulle. Interweaving historical narrative with telling detail, this is a fluent and definitive work of social and cultural history.

'The best book I have read on Paris in a long time' Gregor Dallas, BBC History Books of the Year

'Reading Seven Ages of Paris is like taking an exciting trip in a French balloon' Antonia Fraser, New Statesman Books of the Year

'Provides not only a panorama of the capital, but also a well-crafted history of France with a nice balance between broad overviews and engaging episodes and details' Jonathan Fenby, The Times

• ISBN10: 0330488643
• ISBN13: 9780330488648
• Publish Date: 3 October 2003 (first published 11 October 2002)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 3 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Imprint: Pan Books
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 544
• Language: English

Reviews

[Eve1972]

I have always been fascinated with Paris and in fact it is one of the cities I wish to call home in the future (London being the other), so when I spotted this book I knew I had to pick it up! Often times books like this can be bogged down with names, dates etc. and quickly become dry reading and although this book was certainly filled with those things I never found it boring or hard to get into, just the opposite in fact! If you are interested in the history of Paris and want to read a wonderfully written account then this is the one to pick up!!