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The Once upon a Time World

The Dark and Sparkling Story of the French Riviera

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About this listen

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 185 years between, 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, Catherine Mansfield, 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.

©2023 Jonathan Miles (P)2023 W. F. Howes Ltd Entertainment & Celebrities Europe France Celebrity War Inspiring Imperialism Middle Ages Italy
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A couple of minor facts appear wrong but that does not spoil the story of the Region.
Misses great opportunities to recount details of the struggle between Rainier and Onassis for control of SBM and the robbery at the Monte Carlo Beach Hotel in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin before the Bal de la Croix-Rouge de Monaco
Perhaps the author would like to be allowed back into the Principality.
Of the performance it is well paced but technically could have done with moderating the breathiness of the narration in the recording.
French pronunciation better than the English, which can be distracting

Good read that scopes the history of the region

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This book came up as a suggestion and I purchased it as the area has featured in a number of historical biographies I have read about artists and writers. I’m so glad I did, as the history of the area of is absolutely fascinating. I really enjoyed the author’s waspish style and thought the narration was brilliant. I will be listening to this one again.

Fascinating social and political history.

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