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Paris, City of Dreams

Napoleon III, Baron Haussmann, and the Creation of Paris

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Paris, City of Dreams

By: Mary McAuliffe
Narrated by: Tim H. Dixon
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About this listen

 Bloomsbury presents Paris, City of Dreams by Mary McAuliffe, read by Tim H. Dixon.

"Armchair historians in particular will appreciate McAuliffe’s readable yet detailed history" Booklist, Starred Review

Acclaimed historian Mary McAuliffe vividly recaptures the Paris of Napoleon III, Claude Monet, and Victor Hugo as Georges Haussmann tore down and rebuilt Paris into the beautiful City of Light we know today.

Paris, City of Dreams traces the transformation of the City of Light during Napoleon III’s Second Empire into the beloved city of today. Together, Napoleon III and his right-hand man, Georges Haussmann, completely rebuilt Paris in less than two decades—a breathtaking achievement made possible not only by the emperor’s vision and Haussmann’s determination but by the regime’s unrelenting authoritarianism, augmented by the booming economy that Napoleon fostered.

Yet a number of Parisians refused to comply with the restrictions that censorship and entrenched institutional taste imposed. Mary McAuliffe follows the lives of artists such as Edouard Manet, Berthe Morisot, and Claude Monet, as well as writers such as Emile Zola, Gustave Flaubert, and the poet Charles Baudelaire, while from exile, Victor Hugo continued to fire literary broadsides at the emperor he detested.

McAuliffe brings to life a pivotal era encompassing not only the physical restructuring of Paris but also the innovative forms of banking and money-lending that financed industrialization as well as the city’s transformation. This in turn created new wealth and lavish excess, even while producing extreme poverty. More deeply, change was occurring in the way people looked at and understood the world around them, given the new ease of transportation and communication, the popularization of photography, and the emergence of what would soon be known as Impressionism in art and Naturalism and Realism in literature—artistic yearnings that would flower in the Belle Epoque.

Napoleon III, whose reign abruptly ended after he led France into a devastating war against Germany, has been forgotten. But the Paris that he created has endured, brought to vivid life through McAuliffe’s rich and evocative narrative.©2020 Mary McAuliffe (P)2021 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 19th Century Architecture Europe France Modern Socialism Imperialism
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Having thought I’d learn about Haussmann’s work to create Paris, the book provided so much more and was a rich read, broad in scope and depth and brought to life Paris of the Second Empire. Including details of the developing lives of Manet, Zola, Monet, Bernhardt, Morisot, and others, it was a fascinating multi faceted read. Only irritation was the American narrator which did not fit at all for me. Otherwise superb.

Fabulously rich book, defied expectations

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Fabulous book, illuminating, entertaining, brilliantly written and very well read ( forgive the occasional mispronounciation of french words ). Every chapter is a great source of education focusing on specific events / periods. Just fantastic. Congratulations Mary Mc Auliffe and thank you !

Absolutely Brilliant

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