News of Paris: American Journalists in the City of Light Between the Wars

by Ronald Weber

A bumptious narrative history of American newspapermen in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s, a time when serious journalism still went hand in hand with relative poverty, good times, and a carefree spirit cultivated by eccentric personalities. An absorbing and delightful book.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Paris

352 pages, Hardcover

First published April 25, 2006

Reviews

[Mark Mathes · Rating 4 out of 5]

News of Paris captures the journalistic and political scene in Europe, from the Paris epicenter, between WWI and WWII. This is an interesting book for readers who love European and US history, journalism and entertainment during this period.
Reporters and diplomats were tested by the uncertain rise of fascism and communism throughout the continent. American editors and publishers dispatched armies of reporters by telegram to emerging hotspots from Vienna to Berlin. Col. Robert McCormick, owner of the Chicago Tribune, ordered his reporters across the continent by terse telegram and fired them the same way.
Some of the century's greatest writers and broadcasters emerged in this period: Ernest Hemingway, James Thurber, William L. Shirer, Dorothy Thompson, Eric Sevareid, Edward R. Murrow and more.
This book is written and organized in a conversational way, some thematic. It quotes from correspondence and documents involving the subjects, is well-sourced and heavily indexed.

[RYD · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paris between the wars carries a magic that is hard to compare. This book about the ex-pat journalists of the city is interesting, but doesn't quite capture the energy and excitement of the subject.

[KDWeber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read!

[Angela Natividad · Rating 2 out of 5]

A survey of the expat journalists that hit Paris in the '20s to either make a fortune or drink themselves to death. Most worked as hack newspapermen and left for greener pastures during the German occupation.

Christ almighty, there were days I wanted to throw this book across the room. It is so densely packed and tiresome. At the end I'd developed a fondness for at least three writers, so I suppose it was worth the toil.

[Karen]

After reading Sheean's Personal History, as well as having read Anais Nin and other accounts of ex-pat writers from this time, I want to absorb more and more about this era.

[Kristiana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the idea of this book. I really tried to get into it but in the end, after 50 pages, had to put it down. I found it hard to follow. Very disappointed.

[Bob Alexander]

Didn't like it that much. Couldn't finish it!