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The book lover’s guide to… Paris

The New Penguin History of France

The Great Nation: France from Louis XV to Napoleon

Designed to replace Alfred Cobban's old history of 18th century France which sold well over 150,000 copies in Pelican/Penguin

Colin Jones is Professor of  History at the University of Warwick and is now writing PARIS: A HISTORY for Allen Lane.

There can be few more mesmerising historical narratives than the story of how the dazzlingly confident and secure monarchy Louis XIV, 'the Sun King', left to his successors in 1715 became the discredited, debt-ridden failure toppled by Revolution in1789.  The further story of the bloody unravelling of the Revolution until its seizure by Napoleon is equally astounding.<br/>
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Colin Jones' brilliant new book is the first in 40 years to describe the whole period.  Jones' key point in this gripping narrative is that France was NOT doomed to Revolution and that the 'ancien regime' DID remain dynamic and innovatory, twisting and turning until finally stoven in by the intolerable costs and humiliation of its wars with Britain.

Colin Jones

Biography of a City

'Paris is the World, the rest of the Earth is nothing but its suburbs' - Marivaux<br/>
In this intelligently-written and supremely entertaining new history, Colin Jones seeks to give a sense of the city of Paris as it was lived in and experienced over time. The focal point of generation upon generation of admirers and detractors, a source of attraction or repulsion even for those who have never been there, Paris has witnessed more extraordinary events than any other major city. No spot on earth has been more walked around, written about, discussed, painted and photographed. With an eye for the revealing, startling and (sometimes) horrible detail, Colin Jones takes the reader from Roman Paris to the present, recreating the ups and downs in the history of the city and its inhabitants. Attentive to both the urban environment and to the experience of those who lived within it, PARIS: BIOGRAPHY OF A CITY will be hugely enjoyed by habitual Paris obsessives, by first-time visitors, and by those who know the city only by repute.

Colin Jones

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The book lover’s guide to… Paris

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