Paris: biografia de uma cidade

by Colin Jones, José Carlos Volcato (Tradutor), Henrique Guerra (Tradutor)

Em 'Paris - biografia de uma cidade', o autor busca revelar a cidade tal como ela foi vivida, experienciada e imaginada ao longo dos seus dois mil anos de história. Nesta obra, ele conduz o leitor pela Paris dos romanos até os dias de hoje, recriando os altos e baixos do passado da cidade e de seus habitantes.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, France, Travel, Cities, Biography, European History

592 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Madeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book's front cover proudly features a quote by Neil McGregor, director of the British Museum, who called this book "Exhilarating." Sounds like a good enough recommendation, but let's consider the source: generally, the sort of people who become directors of world-famous museums are also the sort of people who think that looking at pottery shards is exhilarating.

What I'm trying to say here is that while Paris: The Biography of a City is certainly interesting for those who really want to learn about the history of Paris from pre-Roman times to modern day, it's not exactly going to keep you on the edge of your seat.

The problem, of course, is that Paris has such a varied, rich, and long history that the best Jones can do is give us the cliff notes of Paris - he even admits in the preface that he's had to work really hard to focus his information just on Paris itself, eliminating anything that doesn't relate directly to the city and the changes that it and its people have gone through over time. The result is that Jones has to completely ignore anything that didn't happen in Paris (so the period of Louis XIV to XVI is basically skipped right over, since the monarchy was based in Versailles at the time) and rush through all the important stuff so quickly we barely notice it. The Revolution doesn't even get a whole chapter, the Romans are basically a footnote, and we go from Henri of Navarre to Louis XIV in the space of a chapter. Throughout all of this, Jones sprinkles the book with annoyingly tantalizing bits of stories that he doesn't have the time to go into, like this: "In the mid- to late 1880's, however, this moment of relative calm in Parisian politics was overturned by a political shooting star, General Boulanger, a kind of intellectually challenged Napoleon. His call for constitutional revision and a war of revenge against the German empire won a good deal of electoral support among working- as well as middle-class Parisians. By 1891, however, the general had shot his bolt (and indeed himself, on his mistress's tomb) but the 1890's would see the emergence of new sources of political instability."

Wait a minute, go back! He shot himself on his mistress's tomb? I want to read more about that!

But you can't, because that's the first and last that we hear about General Boulanger, and before you can say "slow your roll, Jones" we're moving on to the Dreyfus Affair, which I still don't understand because it lasted a paragraph.

The book does have some good things going for it: first, Jones devotes an impressive amount of space (especially considering how quickly he has to go through all his information) to discussing the emergence and growth of the banlieues, the Parisian suburbs that have, by this point, become larger than Paris itself. It was nice that he didn't just focus his story on the tourist idea of Paris, but acknowledged the less-picturesque aspects of it.

On a related note, my favorite section came towards the end of the book, when Jones discusses the Algerian fight for independence and how the residents of Paris reacted to the conflict. Did you know that there was a massive pro-Algeria demonstration in Paris in 1961, and the police killed almost 200 protestors, either by beating them to death or drowning them in the Seine? Did you know that the French government didn't even acknowledge that this had happened until 1999? I didn't, and it was mind-blowing.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read it and may even re-read it. This is just what it says: the biography of the city of Paris. The book is about how Paris came to be starting with early settlement on an island in the Seine and its banks, ever outward to fields and villages whose names remain with us, like Belleville and Montmartre. It is a story of change, which will truly dispel the idea that Paris is frozen in time. The huge cast of characters who shaped the city includes nobles, workers, politicians, revolutionaries, rabble-rousers, saints, monks, students, scientists, gifted engineers and bold architects. But their stories are only told in so far as they shaped the look and layout of the city with its parks, palaces, graveyards, boulevards, walls, markets, humble homes, grand hotels, squares, and factories. The city is the star here.
The author packs in a lot of information and the reader would be well served by having a detailed map of the city handy while reading. This is not for those wanting a causal introduction to the city, but rather for those hungry for more detail. It was a worthwhile read, though I will admit sometimes I felt I was treading water and hoping to make it through some of the sections I found slow going. This is a hearty meal, not a light lunch. It is filling and satisfying.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing a book about a place with as storied a history and culture as Paris can't be easy, but I found this an absorbing read. From Paris's prehistoric origins through to modern times, Jones examines how the city has developed over the centuries in great detail, looking at politics, society, culture, and geography. It's organized generally in chronological order, but each chapter also includes several "feature boxes", which are essentially sidebars covering in more detail specific topics, such as the Louvre, the Marais, and Madame de Sévigné.

[Aaron Eames · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the flâneur off his feet. The conceit of ‘biography’ is peculiar, since the city’s former incarnation as Lutetia was more of a former identity than a past life, but does lend the central chapters an added amusement as Paris reels from crisis to Middle Age crisis. Jones has a flair for phrasing and a holistic handling of history, observing, for instance, that the death of Louis VI’s heir, unsaddled in the street by a runaway pig, was ‘an odd first in the colourful history of Parisian traffic accidents’. Who knew there was a street named Rue Pute-y-Muse (‘Whore-Hides-Here’)?

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Shortest History of France was too short (300 pages). Paris: A Biography was too long (700 pages).

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colin Jones's history of Paris is subtitled "The Biography of a City," yet the book he provides is virtually the opposite. For rather than offering his readers an intimate portrait of the city through the ages, what he gives them instead is an account of the city within the context of the nation's history. This is understandable given Paris's role in France's development, though as Jones demonstrates Paris wasn't always the center of authority in the country. It wasn't until the high Middle Ages that Paris was transformed from a modest river crossing into the capital of a kingdom, after which it grew spectacularly with the fortunes of the realm.

Though Jones is good at summarizing the city's early centuries, his chapters on Paris in the 18th and 19th centuries are the strongest. This is understandable, given that he specializes in the era, but his focus on this period (over half of the book's chapters are about the post-1715 era) has the effect of unbalancing his coverage somewhat. Still, his achievement is impressive, as he offers a impressively wide-raging account of the city's social and cultural evolution drawn form the existing French- and English-language literature on the metropolis. This is by far the best overall history of Paris available in English, one that is necessary reading for anyone interested in the "City of Light" and how it evolved into the place it is today.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This books greatest strength and weakness is that it is one of the most thorough overviews on the city of Paris history that has been written yet. Unlike many it goes into wonderful detail on the early years of Paris and the build up on the Isle de cite. One of the other drawbacks is that the maps of Paris in the back are just okay but if you have a Paris travel book with good maps you will be better served for following the authors descriptions. The downside to the detail is that you can get bogged down very easily and lose the authors main point with all of the detail. The book tends to glaze over the post world war II era and I would have liked more explanation of the reconstruction efforts.
Overall it was an excellent summary of Parisian history and put Paris in the context of the entire country. There are many books like this that offer the biography of the city and I would put this one in the middle of those. It is hard to have a very strong opinion of this book since it was neither amazing nor terrible. For those looking to learn some more about the history of the city or those who want another perspective on French history it is probably worth a read but for the general consumer on European history it is probably worth a pass.

[Doug Newdick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstl, this is not an easy read. The lack of a narrative or set of events to tie this book together means that I struggled to read it from cover to cover. Having said that, the different sections were often fascinating, and I did really enjoy it. I felt I learned a lot about Paris and France, and now have a renewed interest in visting again. Colin Jones has created a book full of depth, one that shows you the changing face of Paris over time. I felt that I really understood the way that the different factors have shaped Paris, giving it a unique and fascinating character. Heartily recommended for those who are intereted in Paris, and French culture.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very comprehensive history of Paris starting around 50 BC when it was known as Lutetia by Julius Caesar. Enjoyable to those who are familiar with and have a great interest in the city's past, but more of a reference to the average tourist. I found much of this book very interesting especially since I recently spent a lot of time wandering around this amazing city. It tends to get somewhat dry in places, but overall a worthy read as the biography that it is.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really, really good. If you've been to Paris, it's far more interesting. I did find that the author got really bogged down into the details of city planning from the mid-1800s and continues for the last 50 pages of the book and yet he seems to gloss over major events like the Revolution, Napoleon's ascension, the World Wars. But someone renames a street and he spends two 'graphs talking about it.

[Joyce Reynolds-Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb history focused on the growth and development of the history of Paris! Part of me wishes I'd read this before I went to Paris, but a greater part is well aware that it means more being able to make the appropriate connections as I read it. This is also one of those reads that makes learning fun. I learned a lot about unexpected things (what a diligence looks like, and its size) as well as things I'd expected to learn.

[Florence May · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most interesting in depth study of Paris ... Infrastructure, intellectuals, daily life, relationship with royalty, conflicts, growth, education, trash, health .... Everything Parisian. Enjoyed the sidebar stories. Not an easy read but fascinating as preparation for my 10 day trip through the various arrondissement.

[Suvi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Damn, it was a real chore at times. Too much in a list form to keep me interested the whole time.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

an excellent history of Paris from it's earliest beginnings as a tiny Roman settlement to the present day. I read this while on holiday in Paris!

[Jon Riekenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like Paris and I want to like this book, but holy boring book, Batman! I've stopped reading this for now and moved on.

[Kathryn Bashaar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this book because I wanted to know as much as possible about Paris before I went, but it was really too in depth and I ended up not being able to finish it.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent, easy to read history of Paris.

[South Plateau · Rating 3 out of 5]

12个小时38分钟读完了这本《巴黎传》，在法国大革命前的篇章都可以说是读得异常痛苦，之后略好些但到了二战后基本又变成城市街道变化史，就算你拿着法国地图在旁边也没法搞清楚哪一条街是哪一条街，而这本书竟然一张地图都没有配！如果你读这本书是和我一样的目的——做巴黎旅行攻略的话，真的是可读可不读，毕竟读完后脑子里并没有什么明确的概念，甚至连模糊的印象都没有，怎么说，细致却完全没有什么重点的一本书。

[Janene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oooof this was a big one. Why did I read this? :) I mean it was interesting, and I liked the bits of Parisian history for sure, but more than anything it was focused on architecture, arrondissements, large buildings and boulevards. It felt like there was some assumption that I knew about the other history going on in the background... and... I didn't. So sometimes it was hard to be fully engaged. I will say -- there were lots of gray shaded boxes with sort of "in a nutshell" history of specific things (Victor Hugo, Notre Dame, Cour des miracles, The Vel' d'Hiv) because those were the most enjoyable little nuggets for me.

I didn't mean to finally get to this the same time the Paris Olympics were happening, but that was a fun coincidence. Someday I'll revisit this one of a kind city. I'll wrap up my thoughts with general notes I jotted down that I'm too lazy to polish. Bon appetit!

***************************

Beginnings of the city were stinky and unimpressionable, except for its size. "Ile de la Cite" became the heart of it all.

I knew the Louvre was old, but didn't realize that it was SO old!?!! Like pre-1200! At first it was a fortress and then a royal residence.

1300-1400 saw large population shrink. Early on, it became a city of mostly students, and at one point was the city with the most printed word.

There was housing on the bridges, originally, but this was a public health hazard among other things.

Cour des miracles -- mostly mythological and romanticized section of the city where law and religion held no weight -- gypsies, crime, vices ruled all. It was ideological more than actual, but was the inspiration behind such characters as Esmerelda and Quasimoto in Hugo's Hunchback of Notre Dame. In many ways, it was just a romanticized and interesting place for the bourgeoisies to talk about.

Fine fashion trends would quickly turn into cheap fashion. (add confectionary embellishment -- buttons, lace, braids to anything and everything) Either way, Paris began to lead out for all of Europe and beyond.

Man in the Iron Mask - somewhere in the history of the all the King Louis, some of reality reminded me of this story. (Which, I know, is a story based on some actual events)

Paris Cafes have always been more about conversing than about having coffee. They began to flourish during the enlightenment, and there are even fewer of them now than existed then!

"It was the best of times; it was the worst of times..." Convention for new government following the revolution was a failure. "Louis-Sebastien Mercier would seek to differentiate between 'two distinct peoples' living alongside each other in the city, which in his eyes had both made and spoiled the Revolution: on one hand there was 'the people of 14 July and 10 August', 'hurling itself selflessly towards freedom, ready to undertake anything, invincible and generous', who had truly made the Revolution; and on the other there were the 'subtle, greedy and cruel' people, seeking only 'power of wealth', who had spoiled it." (229-30)

1792 Guillotine invented as more humane way of killing people.

Napoleon's reputation was made more great as people glorified and added nostalgia to his rule. Little was accomplished that could ever really justify his fame. On his remains being brought back from Saint Helena to Paris in 1840... "Its progress under the arc de Triompe and along the Champs-Elysees towards the Invalides, where the remains would rest henceforth, was watched by hundreds of thousands. 'It feels as though the whole of Paris has slipped into one half of the city,' noted Victor Hugo,' like liquid in a tilted vase.'" (271)

City's gender switched to masculine shortly thereafter as well.

"Arcades" markets. I'm thinking these inspired that one part in Cars 2 when Mater is in open market to look at old parts for sale on blankets in tents.

Hausmannism and other architectural movements. The desire for perfectly aligned streets, all vistas focused on a single monument was done to excess and even to the detriment of reason. Led to buildings having to be constructed on very awkward plots (triangular), and even a moving of an obelisk after the fact so that it could be in the exact center of a newly remodeled square.

Effects of WWII on Paris, the exodus of enormous masses of people fleeing the city at occupation.

The 'Algerian Bridge.' Atrocities of violence towards Algerians "The Battle of Paris" in 1961 was largely hushed and covered up for decades. Finally a government enquiry in 1999 confirmed and verified death of almost 200 -- many beaten to unconsciousness and dropped in the Seine, and that the actual number of deaths was probably higher.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never read straight up history books but I am not exactly sure that is what this was, I mean I guess it is? I don't know. Whatever. Anyway, I recently traveled to Paris on my honeymoon and discovered a bookstore that had been operating since 1801 and was selling livres Anglais (English books). So naturally, I went in to browse. We had been wandering around Paris for the better part of a week at this point learning all about the rich history of the city. Everything we learned was so captivating to me, I just wanted to know more. In addition, I was already a big fan of Tolstoy's ‘War and Peace’ so any reference to Napoleon I and the war of 1812 was extra exciting to me. That is what led me to the history section of ‘Librairie Galignani’ and ultimately to this book. I began reading it immediately but it was a bit too rigid and dry for a Parisian honeymoon so I decided to bring it home and continue to read it at a later date.

I really enjoyed learning about the Roman history of Paris and about the Vikings pillaging the city, it was remarkable to have a place to reference when reading the book, something about knowing it actually occurred where we stood made it more fascinating and realistic. I also enjoyed learning more about Napoleon I, Napoleon III, King Henry IV, King Louis XIV and King Louis XVI as well as the French Revolutions (of which there were many), the various and frequent plagues the city faced and the religious conflicts. At one point when describing the revolution in 1793, Jones tells us the ground of the Place de la Concorde was so soaked with blood from la guillotine the leaders of the revolution were very concerned about it getting into the water supply below the streets. We stood there, right on the Place de la Concorde where the revolutionaries guillotined over 2,700 aristocrats. It just amazes me, so eerie. There never seems to have been an extended period of peace and prosperity in Paris, literally ever. I spent some time thinking of which era I would choose if I was able to choose one to grow up in Paris but there was literally not one point in time that didn't seem dismal in some way. Even what is referred to as "la belle epoque" was riddled with plague, poverty, and a transient government.

Anyway, in conclusion the history of Paris is much grittier, darker and more dismal than I could have ever assumed, I now have a new understanding of time and feel that America is a very young country and I am still memorized and itching to get back to Paris as soon as I can. This book did a great job outlining all of the major events and giving you a bite sized history of it all. I really enjoyed the literary references and am looking forward to reading Zola, Hugo and Balzac now. The book was a bit date heavy and talked a lot of architecture and street name changes and what not which got tedious but other than that I enjoyed it, it was more difficult to read the a fiction novel but I am glad I now know more about a city I love so much.

[Dave Ciskowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent overview of the history of Paris, with a unique approach that’s both engaging and informative. The book is structured around the linear history of Paris - the people, kings, political movements, and notable events - but Jones focuses these stories on how they affect the city and its structures. This makes for a book about the city of Paris and not the nation or its rulers or politics. The result is a strong sense of place; Jones draws direct connections to specific locations, and builds an understanding of how history shaped not just the city as a whole, but individual districts and streets and squares. It would be a fascinating exercise to sit in a square and trace its appearances through the book. (I’m not completely certain the index is fully up to the task, but the book will also reward repeat browsing and skipping around.) It’s not written as a mass-market popular history, and the prose might be a bit dry for more casual readers. Yet the stories are lively enough in themselves that it will satisfy most readers. Perhaps the perfect book for the English-language visitor who wants to understand what shaped the city in front of him or her.

[Iago Sousa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ótimo livro. Faz um apanhado bem detalhado da história de Paris desde a era dos romanos (até um pouco antes, na verdade). Mas exige certo conhecimento de história da França, pois o autor não para para explicar os acontecimentos com muitos detalhes.
Fiquei um pouco decepcionado porque o autor não fala da construção da catedral de Notre-Dame. Ela simplesmente surge no texto. E poderia ter mais imagens dos locais e construções citados, para facilitar a consulta. Mas é um ótimo livro mesmo assim.

[Patricia Roberts-Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second time I've read this book, and I like it a lot. It's helpful to read it with a map handy--part of what the author is trying to do is give a sense of Paris as a place. So, descriptions mention the relevant arrondissement. If you're going to Paris, or you're familiar with Paris, it's a must-read, but I'm not sure it would be as good if you're just trying to get the history. (Hence the 4 star review.)

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exceptionally researched. It would take me over a year to read this book well. If you're looking for a light narrative of Paris, this is not the book for you. If minutiae that diverges and converges and leaves you feeling unfocused and scrambling for Point A (because you often feel lost and unfocused whilst reading), then this book is for you.

[Erica Manning · Rating 4 out of 5]

I struggled with some of the sentence structure and repetitive word choices (I have never seen adjudged used so often, oh my god), or the obscure adjective choices, but this is a pretty concise and easy to follow timeline of the city's history.

[Waldemar · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you like history, in detail, not only the fun bits, that book is for you. I don't, and so it was a struggle. The longest I have ever read a book. I can't deny the historical accuracy and grandness. It certainly covers a lot, or probably too much detail for the average reader.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lightning tour through time. I feel I know her better now, which has colored my past and will glimmer in my future.

[Ghost of the Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ..... Review to follow

[Susu · Rating 5 out of 5]

The life of the city through the centuries - not just stacking historic facts, but painting a vivid picture of development and life within the metropolis. It helps to have visited at least once ...

[Craig Tutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like having the most expert tour guide in the world taking you on a tour of the history of Paris... A must for all francophiles.