Bonjour_Voyageurs

Greetings everyone,
I am searching for a book that (if possible)condenses the history of France or a book that condenses the history of Paris.
Our daughter will come home from college a week before the 3 of us leave on a 19 day trip (1 week in Paris, the rest in Provence).
She agrees with me that it would be a pity for her to just breeze through the trip without some knowledge of the country's history. She really has had no time for reading other than for her courses and would like read something before our departure.
Any suggestions?
Michèle

hopscotch

Michelin Green Guide Paris. The history is interspersed with the guide information. History time line in the front of the book.

AnselmAdorne

Alistair Horne's <i>Friend or Foe</i> is very readable. My only complaint is that it is more about Paris than provincial France.

He also wrote a history of Paris, which I haven't read yet.

Anselm

SDA1

I suggest:

Paris: The Biography of a City by Colin Jones.

Jones is a well respected historian of France and has written a very good book. Lots of very nice images too. Amazon has it on sale for something like 6 dollars.

SDA1

This is also worthwhile:

Paris: Capital of the World
Patrice Higonnet, Arthur Goldhammer (Translator)

Chicago_Heather

While not a history book, per se, a really interesting read are the &quot;Around and About Paris&quot; books by Thirza Vallois.

I read &quot;Around and About Paris, Volume 1: From the Dawn of Time to the Eiffel Tower (Arrondissements 1 - 7)&quot; before my second trip and it was full of great information.

Powell

A marvelous history of Paris by Alistaire Horne is &quot;Seven Ages of Paris&quot;.It is a fascinating and witty book and one of my all-time favorites.

Cherie

I'll second the suggestion for &quot;The Seven Ages of Paris.&quot; Wonderful, readable book.

SuzieC

Eyewitness Paris has a REALLY REALLY condensed Paris timeline...but that said, &quot;Seven Ages of Paris&quot; is a really great book.

Christina

Sometimes Penguin books have good condensed histories of various countries, you could just search on Amazon or something and find this kind of thing. However, I agree with the suggestion of Michelin green guides (and some other guidebooks do a good job of this, also -- that's what a good guidebook is for).

Horne's book is good. I have a copy of it; but is hardly condensed, it is very long and thorough and about 500 pages.

She just needs what a good guidebook does.

kerouac

You might want to visit the Mus&eacute;e Carnavalet when you are in Paris -- it is the museum of the history of Paris, and it is FREE.

carolina49

For a comprehensive, concise and very readable (though not in depth), history of a country/city, my favorite is: A Traveller's History Of .... series. I have read A Traveller's History of France, A Traveller's History of Paris, and A Traveller's History of Italy - all were excellent. They run about 200 pages, and include chronologies (of major events, heads of government, etc.) at the back of the book for quick reference.

StCirq

David Russel's Paris coffee table-style book has always been one of my all-time favorite history books about Paris. It's not only comprehensive and well written but you've got great photos to look at as you read.

tod

I love all three books written by Thirza Vallois on 'Around &amp; About Paris'.
She gives lots of interesting information about every building and street as she maps out a lovely walk in each arrondisement.

Margo

I found a most enjoyable book, an easy read, called The Road from the Past, Traveling through History in France by Ina Caro. I've read it a couple of times and parts of it more often whenever I travel to a particular area of France.