Once Upon a Time World: The Dark and Sparkling Story of the French Riviera

(Paperback, Main)

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'Phenomenal... Utterly absorbing' Sunday Times, 'Book of the Week'

'[A] fabulous romp of a book'***** Mail on Sunday

A Financial Times 'Book to Read in 2023'

In 1835, Lord Brougham founded Cannes, introducing bathing and the manicured lawn to the wilds of the Mediterranean coast. Today, much of that shore has become a concrete mass from which escape is an exclusive dream. In the intervening years, the stretch of seaboard from the red mountains of the Esterel to the Italian border hosted a cultural phenomenon well in excess of its tiny size.

A mere handful of towns and resorts created by foreign visitors - notably English, Russian and American - attracted the talented, rich and famous as well as those who wanted to be. For nearly two centuries of creativity, luxury, excess, scandal, war and corruption, the dark and sparkling world of the Riviera was a temptation for everybody who was anybody. Often frivolous, it was also a potent cultural matrix that inspired the likes of Picasso, Matisse, Coco Chanel, Scott Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, James Baldwin, Katherine Mansfield, the Rolling Stones, Sartre and Stravinsky.

In Once Upon a Time World, Jonathan Miles presents the remarkable story of the small strip of French coast that lured the world to its shores. It is a wild and unforgettable tale that follows the Riviera's transformation from paradise and wilderness to a pollution imperilled concrete jungle.

Reviews

Jonathan Miles's evocation of the French Riviera is as fascinating in its historical sweep as its devotion to gossip and misbehaviour... Once Upon A Time World is a phenomenal work of research across hundreds of histories, biographies, memoirs and letters. It shifts with masterly control across a dozen arenas, from high art to low scandal, taking in fashion, sport, ballet and motor racing. It's utterly absorbing, indelicate to a shocking degree and I devoured every page of it. * Sunday Times, 'Book of the Week' *
Jonathan Miles's entertaining history... corrals all the myths and legends into a bigger-picture mosaic... Miles writes in a rattling from-the-hip fashion, which only adds to the book's party atmosphere... The French Riviera emerges from this well-researched, enthusiastically shaped book as a constant temptation. * Financial Times *
In this fabulous romp of a book, Jonathan Miles tells the story of how an 80-mile stretch of rocky shoreline from St Tropez in the west to Menton on the Italian border became history's first international playground for the rich and famous... Miles's hectic and choppy narrative gets this star-spotting mood perfectly. * Mail on Sunday *
Entertaining and wide-ranging... Effortlessly readable, Jonathan Miles's portrait of the sparkling but shady Cte d'Azur is complemented by a clutch of images gorgeous enough to grace a small guestroom on any Riviera oligarch's superyacht. -- Miranda Seymour * Literary Review *
A delightful, dizzying romp through the world's most glamorous muse: the French Riviera... Breathtaking * New York Times *
Entertaining and comprehensive... Seemingly all the people who made history passed through at some stage. Distant conflicts, revolutions and financial crises, as much as the oscillations of Paris fashion, all echoed on the Cte-D'Azur. Dr. Miles chronicles all this with a keen eye for piquant details. * The Economist *
An entertaining rollercoaster ride through the region's glamorously decadent and licentious history. * Daily Telegraph *

Miles' book, a chronicle of 'opulence, scandal, war and corruption', is crammed with hundreds of juicy
anecdotes.

* Daily Mail *
Jonathan Miles captures the glitzy hedonism of this decadent playground in the sun for the rich (and fake rich)... A lyrical history of the region that so beguiled the world, Jonathan Miles's compelling book features tale after tale which show us the madness that lies at the heart of the Riviera. * Irish Independent *
In Jonathan Miles's new, thoroughly engaging book, Once Upon a Time World, he chronicles the history of the French Riviera, that strip of land and glittering coast that runs from the rust-red rocks of the Esterel Massif to the Italian border. * Washington Examiner *
Miles's whirlwind of characters coalesces into a narrative of booms and busts throughout the decades: the highs of the Belle poque, the Roaring '20s, and the 1950s - when Hollywood stars took the area's glamor to a new level - but also the lows of both World Wars and the Great Depression. * Foreign Policy *
In his vibrant and picaresque history of the Riviera, Jonathan Miles recounts the story of this strip of beaches and promontories. * New Statesman *
A fascinating story, enchantingly told by Miles -- Katie Law * Collagerie *
Remarkable * France Today *
For a small slice of geography, the French Riviera has cast a long shadow, and it is one of wealth, style, and decadence. Miles has a great time recounting the history of the Riviera, making the book an enjoyable, absorbing read. * Kirkus Reviews *
Throughout, Miles focuses on artists (Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso) and writers (Katherine Mansfield, James Baldwin), tracing the impact of the gorgeous seaside on their work and on their personal lives. Stuffed with entrancing details, it's a charming look at a storied region. * Publishers Weekly *
There's much to learn in this sweeping history that traces the French Riviera from its geological formation through the Belle Epoque, the Roaring Twenties, and both world wars to the present day. * Library Journal *
This lively history of the French Riviera is filled with enchanting morsels. * Booklist *
The story of how the French Riviera was born a century ago is well-known, but this fascinating account goes back much, much farther than that. Consider this a whirlwind history tour of the region, from its Roman Empire beginnings, to the influx of royals in the Belle Epoque to the Murphy era in the 1920s and beyond, with plenty tales of scandal, corruption, and greed in between. * Town & Country *

Author Bio

After a nomadic childhood in America, Canada and the UK, Jonathan Miles has been travelling ever since and currently lives in Paris. Having taken a first from University College, London, he received his doctorate from Jesus College, Oxford. Early books include studies of British artists Eric Gill and David Jones. Most recently, Medusa: The Shipwreck, the Scandal and the Masterpiece, Nine Lives of Otto Katz and St Petersburg: Three Centuries of Murderous Desire were all published to international acclaim.