Paris from the ground up / James H. S. McGregor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McGregor, James H. (James Harvey), 1946- author.

Series:

From the Ground Up

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Travel.

Paris (France)--Description and travel.

Paris (France).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (346 pages)

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts ; London, England : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, [2009]

Summary:

Paris is the most personal of cities. There is a Paris for the medievalist, and another for the modernist—a Paris for expatriates, philosophers, artists, romantics, and revolutionaries of every stripe. James H. S. McGregor brings these multiple perspectives into focus throughout this concise, unique history of the City of Light. His panorama begins with an ancient Gallic fortress on the Seine, burned to the ground by its own defenders in a vain effort to starve out Caesar’s legions. After ninth-century raids by the Vikings ended, Parisians expanded the walls of their tiny sanctuary on the Ile de la Cité, turning the river’s right bank into a thriving commercial district and the Rive Gauche into a college town. Gothic spires expressed a taste for architectural novelty, matched only by the palaces and pleasure gardens of successive monarchs whose ingenuity made Paris the epitome of everything French. The fires of Revolution threatened all that had come before, but Baron Haussmann saw opportunity in the wreckage. No planned city in the world is more famous than his. Paris from the Ground Up allows readers to trace the city’s evolution in its architecture and art—from the Roman arena to the Musée d’Orsay, from the Louvre’s defensive foundations to I. M. Pei’s transparent pyramids. Color maps, along with identifying illustrations, make the city accessible to visitors by foot, Metro, or riverboat.

Contents:

Outpost of empire

Cathedral of Notre Dame

Gothic ascendancy

Foundations of the Louvre

City of light

Limits of royal ambition

Revolution and redesign

Paris on the edge.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: McGregor, James H. S. Paris from the Ground Up

ISBN:

9780674266001

0674266005

9780674265998

0674265998

OCLC:

1286428626