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9781620407684

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Illuminating . . . Dejean obviously knows and loves Paris, and she provides coherent history that effectively explains the evolution of a city built by a few prescient men. -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review Witty and engaging . . . With panache and examples from primary sources, guidebooks, maps, and paintings, she illustrates how Paris changed people's conception of a city's potential. -- Publishers Weekly The City of Light is indisputably one of the world's most beautiful, and as Joan DeJean, who's written exhaustively about France and the French, explains in How Paris Became Paris: The Invention of the Modern City, its transformation began in the 17th century, with a great urban plan for boulevards, bridges, sidewalks, and public parks. Visit with new insight and appreciation or just marvel at its conception with DeJean's book in hand. -- Publishers Weekly Top Ten Travel Books this Spring DeJean's depth and scope of research are impressive . . . Like its subject, DeJean's biography of Paris emanates charm and wit. What makes [her] analysis so intriguing is her capacity to weave strands of history together. With such rich context, How Paris Became Paris is more than a history: It's the best kind of travel guidebook. -- BookPage This lively history charts the growth of Paris from a city of crowded alleyways and irregular buildings into a modern marvel. -- New Yorker Highly readable and well illustrated with color plates and numerous black-and-white images, this book is a joy for anyone who loves Paris. Because this work is aimed at a general audience, there are no footnotes, although quotations are identified and references given. A solid bibliography ends the work.- D. C. Baxter, Ohio University, CHOICE

This lively history charts the growth of Paris from a city of crowded alleyways and irregular buildings into a modern marvel. * New Yorker * The greatest strength of How Paris Became Paris is the richness of its subject matter. DeJean is fluent with the material and has conducted thorough research, with many interesting primary sources . . . Well worth reading. * Washington Post * DeJean's depth and scope of research are impressive . . . Like its subject, DeJean's biography of Paris emanates charm and wit. What makes [her] analysis so intriguing is her capacity to weave strands of history together. With such rich context, How Paris Became Paris is more than a history: It's the best kind of travel guidebook. * Bookpage * Illuminating . . . Dejean obviously knows and loves Paris, and she provides coherent history that effectively explains the evolution of a city built by a few prescient men. -- starred review * Kirkus Reviews * Witty and engaging . . . With panache and examples from primary sources, guidebooks, maps, and paintings, she illustrates how Paris changed people's conception of a city's potential. * Publishers Weekly (Top 10 Travel Books This Spring) * How Paris Became Paris teaches us a great deal about the origins of the modernity we have, and spurs us to contemplate the modernity we want. * Make Literary Magazine *

This lively history charts the growth of Paris from a city of crowded alleyways and irregular buildings into a modern marvel. New Yorker The greatest strength of How Paris Became Paris is the richness of its subject matter. DeJean is fluent with the material and has conducted thorough research, with many interesting primary sources ... Well worth reading. Washington Post DeJean's depth and scope of research are impressive ... Like its subject, DeJean's biography of Paris emanates charm and wit. What makes [her] analysis so intriguing is her capacity to weave strands of history together. With such rich context, How Paris Became Paris is more than a history: It's the best kind of travel guidebook. Bookpage Illuminating ... Dejean obviously knows and loves Paris, and she provides coherent history that effectively explains the evolution of a city built by a few prescient men. -- starred review Kirkus Reviews Witty and engaging ... With panache and examples from primary sources, guidebooks, maps, and paintings, she illustrates how Paris changed people's conception of a city's potential. Publishers Weekly (Top 10 Travel Books This Spring) How Paris Became Paris teaches us a great deal about the origins of the modernity we have, and spurs us to contemplate the modernity we want. Make Literary Magazine

Illuminating . . . Dejean obviously knows and loves Paris, and she provides coherent history that effectively explains the evolution of a city built by a few prescient men. -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review Witty and engaging . . . With panache and examples from primary sources, guidebooks, maps, and paintings, she illustrates how Paris changed people's conception of a city's potential. -- Publishers Weekly The City of Light is indisputably one of the world's most beautiful, and as Joan DeJean, who's written exhaustively about France and the French, explains in How Paris Became Paris: The Invention of the Modern City, its transformation began in the 17th century, with a great urban plan for boulevards, bridges, sidewalks, and public parks. Visit with new insight and appreciation or just marvel at its conception with DeJean's book in hand. -- Publishers Weekly Top Ten Travel Books this Spring DeJean's depth and scope of research are impressive . . . Like its subject, DeJean's biography of Paris emanates charm and wit. What makes [her] analysis so intriguing is her capacity to weave strands of history together. With such rich context, How Paris Became Paris is more than a history: It's the best kind of travel guidebook. -- BookPage This lively history charts the growth of Paris from a city of crowded alleyways and irregular buildings into a modern marvel. -- New Yorker

Author Information

Joan DeJean is Trustee Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of numerous books on French literature, history, and material culture, including The Queen's Embroiderer: A True Story of Paris, Lovers, Swindlers, and the First Stock Market Crisis, The Age of Comfort: When Paris Discovered Casual and the Modern Home Began and The Essence of Style: How the French Invented High Fashion, Fine Food, Chic Cafés, Style, Sophistication, and Glamour. She lives in Philadelphia and, when in Paris, on the street where the number 4 bus began service on July 5, 1662.

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