I bought this ten years ago, started and abandoned reading a few times, and then finally bit the bullet. And actually, most of Colin Jones' impossible task of condensing Paris into 500 pages is quite interesting! I enjoyed the history (obviously), the architecture and the 'feature boxes' on various subjects from the Pont Neuf to Josephine Baker. The inescapable politics and - well - the rest of the chapters after the Revolution and Haussmann's rather mercenary rebuilding of the city in the 1850s, were of less interest to me, I have to admit. ( )

Colin Jones's history of Paris is subtitled "The Biography of a City," yet the book he provides is virtually the opposite. For rather than providing an intimate portrait of the city through the ages, what he offers is an account of the city within the context of the nation's history. This is understandable given Paris's role in France's development, though as Jones demonstrates Paris wasn't always the center of authority in the country. It wasn't until the high Middle Ages that Paris was transformed from a modest river crossing into the capital of a kingdom, after which it grew spectacularly with the fortunes of the realm.

Though Jones is good at summarizing the city's early centuries, his chapters on Paris in the 18th and 19th centuries are the strongest. This is understandable, given that he specializes in the era, but his focus on this period (over half of the book's chapters are about the post-1715 era) has the effect of unbalancing his coverage somewhat. Still, his achievement is impressive, as he offers a impressively wide-raging account of the city's social and cultural evolution drawn form the existing French- and English-language literature on the metropolis. This is by far the best overall history of Paris available in English, one that is necessary reading for anyone interested in the "City of Light" and how it evolved into the place it is today. ( )

Having read the description and a number if positive 5 star reviews of this book, I chose it to develop my understanding of Paris as a city before a recent trip. I was expecting a mix of geographical history, economic history and social history, with more of a leaning towards the latter. I was disappointed. It is mainly geographical history, an overview of Paris's town planning over the millennia. For me it lacked the personal. There wasn't enough time given to how changes in the physicality of the city affected the people who lived there. People seem incidental to the streets and buildings they interact with. The dry tone of the book sent me to sleep on more than one occasion. I read the Kindle version, and the structure of side panels didn't work at all well. I can imagine that, with a physical book, flipping between the main narrative and the incidental asides would be easier. In the Kindle version, they interrupt the flow of the narrative - mainly because they're plonked into the text and are more interesting, so that when the main narrative resumes, there is a moment of disorientation. I wish the whole book had been more on the model of the side panels. Having said that, the author has carried out extensive research, knows his subject and seems passionate about the geographical history of the city. If that's what you're looking for, this is undoubtedly a good choice. If, like me, you're after more social history, you'll probably wind up wishing you'd bought Alistair Horne's book. ( )

This is one of the better-written histories I have ever read. Hundreds of pages flew by as I read. Jones includes 1-or-2 page sidebars about the most interesting stories about personalities, places, and incidents throughout the book, as well as great pictures. I did, however, find the maps to be almost useless, which is a shame since the geography of the city plays a major role in the narrative. The book will go better if you have either knowledge of Paris's layout or a good modern map. ( )

A doorstopper of a book, but essential reading for those interested in Paris history from beginning to contemporary. A grand sweep. And very, very readable. ( )