Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
City of Light, City of Shadows
- Paris in the Belle Époque
- Narrated by: Paul Daintry
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.00 for first 30 days
City of Light, City of Shadows
Buy Now for £12.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
Summary
But as Mike Rapport reveals in this authoritative and beautifully written new history, City of Light, City of Shadows, beneath the elegant veneer Paris was at war with itself. For the Belle Époque was also an era of social and religious unrest, arguments over women's emancipation and violent clashes over what it meant to be French.
Paris pulsated with pleasure, anxieties and tension stemming from the giddying speed of modernity: blazing electric lights illuminating the night, the first cars speeding down the boulevards, as well as the first Métro trains and aeroplane flights. At the same time reactionary forces reasserted themselves through the new mass media-mostly dramatically in the infamous Dreyfus affair, which exposed the dark heart of French antisemitism.
Told through the eyes of the greatest personalities of the age-novelist Émile Zola, feminist activist Marguerite Durand, Vietnamese diplomat Nguyễn Trọng Hợp and socialist politician Jean Jaurès-the book weaves together stories of splendour and suffering, delight and agony, offering a brilliant account of the shadows cast across the City of Light.
Critic reviews
'Mike Rapport is a historian with the rare ability to engage his reader both on the level of local detail and of sweeping narrative. City of Light, City of Shadows had me spellbound' (Lauren Elkin, author of Flâneuse and Art Monsters)
'In this book which fizzes with all the energy of Belle Epoque Paris, Rapport conveys superbly the conflicts, tension and anxieties undelay the glittering spectacle of Parisian modernity. His narrative is brilliantly anchored in the spaces and places of the city. For lovers of Paris the book should become an indispensable accompaniment to any future visit to the city' (Julian Jackson, author of A Certain Idea of France: The Life of Charles de Gaulle)
More from the same
Love Books? You'll Love Audible.
Transform your day
Replace endless scrolling with endless listening. Chores can be fun.
Listen everywhere
You can’t turn pages while you drive—but you can press play.
Carry your entire Library
Your stories go where you go. Audiobooks don’t weigh a thing.
Listen and learn
Discover stories that can change your mind, your well-being, and your life.
Reach your reading goals
Download titles to listen offline, wherever you are in the world.
Find your niche
WIth thousands of titles to explore, there’s something for everyone.
What listeners say about City of Light, City of Shadows
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Campesque
- 01-06-24
Fast paced evocative story for our times.
I bought this for a bit of nostalgia, having spent three months working in Paris 30 years ago, and being familiar with the characters and locations mentioned. This book takes you right back into the Belle Époque with the massive technological advances and social changes this brought about. From the rise of mass consumerism, polarised media, and the rise of nationalism, this book contains many parallels with our own times. We need to learn from history rather than keep on repeating it. This book is fast paced, entertaining and brilliantly read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!