City of Light, City of Shadows: Paris in the Belle poque

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Belle Epoque Paris: Haussmann's airy boulevards, well-trimmed parks and markets. The capital of the 19th century. The glittering, glamorous age that would be lost in the industrialised human butchery of the First World War. When we think of this era, we see it so positively, as sunshine in the darkness, a great period of cultural vibrancy.

But at the time people spoke more worriedly about 'Fin de Siecle' - the turn of the century announcing a leap into an unknown future, where the forces unleashed during the 19th century, the unpredictable application of new technologies, the furnaces of industrialisation, the rise of mass politics, the yawning inequalities of wealth and poverty, the expansion of the cities and more - might bear poisonous fruit.

Focusing on the great buildings of the time - many such as the Eiffel Tower and Sacre Coeur still iconic landmarks of the city - and on the influential characters that roamed the city streets, from Emile Zola and Suzanne Valadon (Renoir's model) to Marcel Proust and Marguerite Durand, The Lantern brings to life the 'modern' city like never before.

Impeccably researched and beautifully written, this exceptional work of narrative history by one of the foremost scholars of the period is a prize-winner in the marking - a journey through the city of Paris in its heyday that will live with readers long after the last page has been turned.

Author Bio

Mike Rapport is a Reader in modern European history at the University of Glasgow and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He is the author of several books, including 1848: Year of Revolution. He lives in Stirling, Scotland.