Time-Capsule Paris

There are places all over Paris that have kept alive odd splinters of the past. For whatever reason, they still carry echoes of the events in which they played a part. What this book sets out to do is take a hundred of these accidental time capsules and use them to build up a picture of the city’s history. Each of the items is something you can find your way to in the streets or museums of Paris, each offers the peculiar thrill that comes from touching hands with the past. An initial timeline provides a historical spine for the book, while maps and a gazeteer help to pinpoint the various locations. The aim is to tell the city’s story in a mosaic of surviving fragments but also, by focusing on a particular house, gateway, statue, painting, column etc., to leave the reader with a fresh agenda for future visits.

Book Author

Since leaving Oxford, where he read English at St John’s College, Ian Littlewood has divided his time between teaching, travelling and writing. Whenever possible, he has combined at least two of the three by teaching at universities abroad and writing books about travel. He now lives in Sussex with his wife and daughter. Among his books are literary companions to Paris and Venice, The Idea of Japan, which examines western stereotypes of Japan and the Japanese, Sultry Climates: Travel and Sex since the Grand Tour ,and The Rough Guide History of France.
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