Paris from the Ground Up

by McGregor, James H. S.

• ISBN13: 9780674057388
• ISBN10: 0674057384
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-11-30
• Publisher: Belknap Pr

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 Caesarrs"s legions. After ninth-century raids by the Vikings ended, Parisians expanded the walls of their tiny sanctuary on the Ile de la Citeacute;, turning the riverrs"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 cityrs"s evolution in its architecture and art-from the Roman arena to the Museacute;e drs"Orsay, from the Louvrers"s defensive foundations to I. M. Peirs"s transparent pyramids. Color maps, along with identifying illustrations, make the city accessible to visitors by foot, Metro, or riverboat.

Author Biography

James H. S. McGregor is Professor and Co-Head of the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Georgia.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
Outpost of Empire	p. 9
The Cathedral of Notre Dame	p. 39
Gothic Ascendancy	p. 69
Foundations of the Louvre	p. 113
City of Light	p. 155
The Limits of Royal Ambition	p. 189
Revolution and Redesign	p. 213
Paris on the Edge	p. 255
Information	p. 301
Further Reading	p. 307
Acknowledgments	p. 309
Illustration Credits	p. 311
Index	p. 313
Maps	p. 328
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