Paris

John Russell's 'Paris' is an elegant and erudite tour of the city-its character, its neighborhoods, its institutions-by a guide who knows its places & pleasures intimately.

Beginning with the Louvre, and progressing slowly outward to the borders of the Ile de France, Russell ambles along the boulevards & streets of past and present Paris, stopping here at one noble town house to eavesdrop on Zola & Turgenev, there to hear the 8-yr-old Mozart at the piano astounding his hosts. He smoothly evokes 300 years of social climbing, lavish living, romantic intrigue, artistic ambition, and intellectual achievement.

'Paris' honors excellence in all things, from painting to conversation, but it is equally about a living city.
The book is illustrated throughout with more than 310 paintings, pastels, drawings & photographs.

CONTENTS: 1) Intro 2) Parisian and Parisienne 3) The Louvre 4) The Grands Boulevards 5) Du Cote de Saint-Honore 6) The Marais 7) The Paris of the First Empire 8) Revolutionary Paris: The Faubourg St.-Antoine 9) The Palais Royal 10) The Comedie-Francaise 11) The Case of Haussmann 12) The River & the Islands 13) The 7th Arrondissement 14) 6th Arrondissement 15) 5th Arrondissement 16) The Ile de France