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Paris: The Secret History | 
 enlarge | Author: Andrew Hussey
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Category: Book
List Price: $32.50
Buy New: $14.49
You Save: $18.01 (55%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 88975
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.8
ISBN: 1596913231
Dewey Decimal Number: 944.36
EAN: 9781596913233
ASIN: 1596913231
Publication Date: November 28, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: Compare Rating! GIFT QUALITY BRAND NEW 1st U.S. Ed 2007 HARDCOVER, NO REMAINDER MARK, NOT A BOOK CLUB ED***FREE DELIVERY CONFIRMATION, Ships same or next day. MEDIA MAIL ships M-F, PRIORITY MAIL ships M-Sat, tracking# emailed (NO SHIPPING TO PRISONS/JAILS due to returned packages)
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Product Description
If Adam Gopnik’s Paris to the Moon described daily life in contemporary Paris, this book describes daily life in Paris throughout its history: a history of the city from the point of view of the Parisians themselves. Paris captures everyone’s imaginations: It’s a backdrop for Proust’s fictional pederast, Robert Doisneau’s photographic kiss, and Edith Piaf’s serenaded soldier-lovers; a home as much to romance and love poems as to prostitution and opium dens. The many pieces of the city coexist, each one as real as the next. What’s more, the conflicted identity of the city is visible everywhere—between cobblestones, in bars, on the métro.
In this lively and lucid volume, Andrew Hussey brings to life the urchins and artists who’ve left their marks on the city, filling in the gaps of a history that affected the disenfranchised as much as the nobility. Paris: The Secret History ranges across centuries, movements, and cultural and political beliefs, from Napoleon’s overcrowded cemeteries to Balzac’s nocturnal flight from his debts. For Hussey, Paris is a city whose long and conflicted history continues to thrive and change. The book’s is a picaresque journey through royal palaces, brothels, and sidewalk cafés, uncovering the rich, exotic, and often lurid history of the world’s most beloved city.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 Might Want to Stop after Napoleon is Exiled April 24, 2008
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
The early parts of this book, though they have not 'real' secrets, do debunk some of the older ones. But once he gets past the mid-nineteenth century (around Napoleon III) the book goes decidedly downhill with Hussey throwing in too many of his personal hobgoblins and opinions. The worst part of the last hundred pages is the number of outright mistakes or lies that he tries to slip through. Some are as follows:
p 330uses 'neo-fascist' in referring to architectute of the period
just post-ww1
p 335mentions the fiftieth anniversary of the liberation of Paris in
2004
p336referring to Paris in the 20s when Montparnesse was packed with
Eastern Europeans including Lenin and Trotsky at one point
(Lenin had already had a stroke and Trotsky was hiding in Mexico)
p 340mentions the right as unashamedly anti-semetic whose main organ
of debate was "La Libre Parole" ...formerly Dreyfusard rag
(Dreyfusards were pro-Dreyfus)
p 342Celine brilliantly written if thoroughly evil diatribe
"Bagatelles pur un massacre"..ferociously anti-Jewish and
pro-Nazi (talk about verbal diarrhea)
p 346anti-semitism...transferred itself to Blum, a Jew and vociferous
supporter of Dreyfus (Blum was French, his religion was jewish
which makes him a French Jew or Jewish, not 'a Jew' makes Blum
sound like furniture)
p 347Bizarrely, the French translation of "Mein Kampf" ... omitted the
sections in which Hitler defines France as Germany's historic
enemy (not Bizarre...INTENTIONAL)
p 347 Georges Bataille novel called "Le Bleu du ciel" ("The Blue of
Noon") almost always translated as "Blue of the Sky" noon is Midi
section on the beginning of ww2, mentions "the invasion of
Austria" (Austrian Anschluss was voluntary and widely cheered by
the Austrians; like forgetting that the Italians started the war
on the side of the Nazis)
never mentions the french appeasement of Hitler as he rearmed,
took back the Rhineland or dismembered Czechoslovakia with their
help never mentions the 200,000 french troops with de Gaulle
saved at Dunkirk
The Free French liberated Paris using American tanks, using
American guns and ammunition, wearing American uniforms... after
speeding ahead of Patton's Armor which had been chasing the
Germans across France so that they could be in Paris first....
(big deal, it was the British Commonwealth and Americans who
spent their money and blood to liberated a county that the French
practically handed over to the Germans - The Free French and de
Gaulle was bigger posers than Field Marshall Montgomery)
$200,000,000 in Marshall Plan money to keep France out of the
hands of the Communists (which they never repaid or even said
thank you)
He rewrites the 1968 revolution, he writes about Guy
Debord and the 'situationists' being the driving intellectual
force at the Sorbonne (this is such BS, I was there in '68,
never heard about Debord until everything was over. The leader
of Mai 22 was Daniel Cohen-Bendit (Danny the Red), look in any
history book or anywhere on the internet. Just because Hussey
wrote a book about Debord doesn't make him famous.
Lastly, Paris is a tired city, which is the capital of a tired country. In the new Europe, Berlin, London, and Madrid, are much more involved and seen as the leaders of the EU and the future US of Europe. The French are just unable to realize they are no longer the center of the world much less Europe. Time to get over yourselves, 85% of the internet is in English...must be a reason...and that's no secret!
Death, Dismemberment, and Decadence in the City of Lights February 22, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
There's a lot of interesting history dredged up in Andrew Hussey's "Paris, the Secret History", a blood drenched, often gripping account of the glittering world capital that offsets the glamorous and polished image the very name evokes. Having recently visited both London and Paris, I purchased this book, along with "London: the Biography" by Peter Ackroyd. I had attempted, without success, to get through Ackroyd's biography of Shakespeare, but decided to read his London book first, hoping for better results. Ackroyd is a very highly regarded writer, so I can only assume that either I'm missing something or am sorely lacking the intelligence required to enjoy his tomes. There are passages of great wit to be found in "London", to be sure, and also chapters that began interestingly enough, but somehow, for me, seemed to get bogged down in dry, almost academic, prose that caused my eyes to glaze over, making me want to sling the book across the room.
Fortunately, the Paris book by Andrew Hussey doesn't present the same problem. As a matter of fact, the book moves quickly forward from the city's ancient history through various wars and conflicts, ending up in the present day. Along the way, we are variously entertained and repulsed by a colorful and, often outrageous cast of real-life characters who are so vividly described that it's hard to believe that they actually existed. And the trials and trepidations faced by everyday Parisians, particularly during the time of the French Revolution through the second World War, are horrific and heart-rending.
The most negative comment I have about this book is that there seems to be an undercurrent of thinly veiled homophobia present throughout. Maybe homophobia is too strong a word, but there have been notable (sometimes notorious) gay men and women intimately involved in the long, eventful history of Paris, and the author is clearly uncomfortable with this subject, most especially regarding homosexual males. There are passages where his disdain, as well as his distaste, is evident. This added a somewhat sour note to a book that is, otherwise, fascinating, well-researched, and, in most cases, well-written.
 Not "Secret" but "Fun" History of Paris January 18, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I read this book two years ago. Out of the blue, I decided to write a review. It is the first time I read the reviews on this book on Amazon. I must say that I am surprised at how many don't like this book.
Not everyone have time to read a dry 800 page book of the official history of France and another 800 page book of the social history of France and another 200 page Paris tourist guide book, so as a substitute, this 400 page of a fun history of Paris book seems like a great deal. For a introduction to France's history, a history of Paris would certainly be sufficient because many things that you see in Paris can be linked to parts of history. Examples: description of Paris' city plan in Roman times reminds us that France used to be "occupied" by the Romans. Then there is the Revolution, the crowning of Napoleon, the defeat of Napolean by the Germans, the Nazi occupation... The additional benefit of relating a historical event to a specific Parisian street/architecture/artifact in Paris is that it helps reader to remember the event better than just reading a history book.
Now, if you read a pure history book, you probably won't learn about where is the bar that the students and artists used to drink, where the jugglars used to perform, where the rich people used to live, where the prostitues used to linger. There probably would be less detailed description of the lifes of famous French actresses, the circumstances under which the numerous bridges across the Seine were built, when did postal service begin in Paris. There are also references to famous French writers, painters and architects for those are into the arts/literature. (maybe a little less references to musicians than I'd like)
I personally have a sort of interesting relationship with Paris. I must have been there 7 times, but have had only two short stints as a proper tourist instead of being on business. So, I know the streets, historical sites and museums of Paris reasonably well. I know quite well where modren Parisian shops and work. However, for myself at least, this book introduces a different aspect of Paris to me. Instead of just looking at the surface of the city, which is the modern or touristy fascade, I have a deeper sense of the myraid actors, glorious or hideous ones, that has shaped the city.
One complain I have about this book is that its map is too small and too unclear. It is a pity. I would love to trace everything the author mention on a map so that I can visit the place next time. Normally, this issue would cause me to reduce the star from 5 to 4.5, thus 4. But, given how many people don't like the book, I have to give it a 5 to stress my point.
This book is packed with fun details and informative history. It is organized into short chapters. It was a very quick read for me. I am pretty sure that I will read this book again at some point. (unfortunately, my original book is falling apart)
 Can't tell a book by its cover October 30, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Far from revealing any "secrets", this book reads like a minimally organized pastiche of historical snippets commonly acccessible to any grade school student researching Paris. The entire text is compsed in jejune paragraphs as if the author himself couldn't even stay interested enough to sustain any intellectual progression of thought. If there is anything postive to be said about this deceptively titled book it is that its inadequacies can serve to encourage interested readers to pursue further information in other books or resources. "Ah, Paris...your 'secrets" are still out there waiting to be discovered and savored!"
Secret History October 15, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I love this book, the detail is fascinating and the back and forth relationship to modern day Paris, is what keeps me reading. I also appreciate the lore of the catholic references to saints and locales, but he doesn't sugar coat the history. He's done a lot of fascinating reading and research and summarizes his findings in an easy and enjoyable format. Although it takes me a while to digest each section, I still think it is worthwhile reading. Having been to Paris and going back in the spring, I wanted a comprehensive look at the city with the not so pleasant facts thrown in. This has met my requiremnts.
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