Tales Of Two Cities: Paris : London And The Birth Of The Modern City

Local Description

2014. A near fine copy only marked by age tanning to the top edge.

Description

"Paris and London have long held a mutual fascination, and never more so than in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when they both vied to be the world's greatest city. Each city has been the focus of many books, yet here Jonathan Conlin uncovers the intriguing relationship between them for the first time. It is a history of surprises: Sherlock Holmes was actually French, the can-can was English and the first restaurant served English food in Paris. Tales of Two Cities examines and compares six urban spaces - the street, the cemetery, the apartment, the restaurant, the music hall and the nocturnal underworld. The citizens of Paris and London were the first to create these landmarks of the modern cityscape. By borrowing, imitating and learning from each other they invented the modern metropolis and so defined urban living for us all."

Reviews

Tales of Two Cities allows readers to reconsider what "everybody knows". For, with astonishing ease, Jonathan Conlin performs that most useful, and difficult, of tasks: he makes us see the familiar as though it were new. --Judith Flanders, Sunday Telegraph In Jonathan Conlin's Tales of Two Cities the little acknowledged but hugely significant histoire croisee of two rival metropoles gets a long overdue airing... The greatest compliment one can pay Conlin's book is that it provides endless food for thought. --Spectator Jonathan Conlin's wonderful new book is a fascinating walk through two of the greatest cities in the world. With admirable skill and a painter's eye, Conlin presents the reader with a richly woven tapestry of stories and events that is mesmerizing to behold. The reader will never think of London or Paris in the same way again. --Amanda Foreman Conlin provides some striking insights into these two capitals which are, in effect, mirror-images of one another. A thought-provoking glimpse into the history of our own London and its elegant, racy cousin, Paris. Beautifully illustrated and well-written. --Catharine Arnold Full of unexpected facts... Conlin's case studies of possible cultural exchange are both concise and entertaining. --Miranda Seymour, New York Times

Author description

Jonathan Conlin was born in New York and later moved to Britain, where he studied history at Oxford. He went on to do graduate work at the Courtauld Institute and Cambridge, completing a PhD thesis on the early history of the National Gallery, London; his books include The Nation's Mantelpiece and Civilisation. He is regularly invited to comment on museums and broader questions of national heritage, on ITV's South Bank Show, History Today magazine and the Today programme.