The Making of Paris: The Story of How Paris Evolved from a Fishing Village into the World's Most Beautiful City

by Russell Kelley

Overview

Paris has long been the world’s most popular destination and, in the view of many, the world’s most beautiful city – the product of two thousand years of continuous improvement and refinement. The Making of Paris is the story of how Paris evolved from a small fishing village on an island in the middle of the Seine River into the City of Light. The focus of the book is on the city as seen from the street, in order to understand the evolution of the urban landscape of Paris through the rues and boulevards and the buildings and monuments from its long and storied past.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493071883
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	03/04/2025
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.18(d)

About the Author

Russell Kelley is an American lawyer who has lived in Paris for nearly 30 years. A dedicated flâneur, he has walked the length and breadth of his adopted city, marveling at its splendid monuments, perspectives and panoramas. Those walks led to an unending quest to understand how the urban landscape of Paris, the world’s most beautiful city, evolved over the centuries. When in the US, he lives in Palm Beach, FL.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Note on the Images xi

Note on Style xiii

Introduction xv

Part I The First Thousand Years

Chapter 1 Gallo-Roman Period (52 BC-AD 486) 3

Chapter 2 Early Middle Ages (Fifth-Tenth Century) 9

The Franks (476-987) 9

The Vikings 12

Conclusion 14

Part II The Second Thousand Years-Modern France

Chapter 3 The Capetians (987-1328) 17

The Philippe-Auguste Wall-Ville Close 19

The Church 21

La Cité/The City (the Island) 24

La Ville/The Town (the Right Bank) 30

L'Université/The University (the Left Bank) 32

Chapter 4 The House of Valois (1328-1589) 35

Charles V (1338/1364-1380) 35

François I^er (1494/1515-1547) 42

The End of the House of Valois 46

Chapter 5 The Bourbons (1589-1791) 49

Henri IV (1553/1589-1610) 49

Louis XIII (1601/1610-1643) 61

Louis XIV (1638/1643-1715) 66

Louis XV(1710/1715-1774) 79

Louis XVI (1754/1774-1792/1793) 86

Chapter 6 The Revolution and Napoléon I^er (1789-1815) 95

The Revolution (1789-1799) 95

First Consul-Bonaparte (1799-1804) 101

The First Empire-Napoléon I^er (1804-1814) 102

Chapter 7 The Restoration and the July Monarchy (1814-1848) 115

The Bourbon Restoration (1814-1830) 115

Louis-Philippe (1773/1830-1848/1850 118

Count Rambuteau-Préfet de la Seine (1833-1848) 121

The Revolution of June 1848 130

Chapter 8 The Second Republic and the Second Empire (1848-1870) 131

The Second Republic (1848-1851) 131

The Second Empire-Napoléon III (1852-1870) 132

Baron Haussmann-Préfet de la Seine (1853-1870) 134

The Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) 174

The End of the Second Empire 174

Chapter 9 The Third Republic (1870-1940) 177

The Siege of Paris (1870-1871) 177

The Commune (1871) 178

Paris After the Commune 182

La Belle Époque 185

World War I 204

Entre-Deux-Guerres and Les Années Folles 205

Chapter 10 1940-Present 211

World War II 211

The Fourth (1946-1958) and Fifth (1958-Present) Republics 213

Conclusion 245

Art in the Street 250

Architecture as Art 251

Grand Scale 254

Small Details 256

Fluctuat nec Mergitur 258

Selected Bibliography 261

Image Credits 265

Index 273