Thomas Okey traces the history of Paris from its origins as the Gaulish settlement of Lutetia on the Île de la Cité through the medieval university, the religious wars, the Sun King’s Versailles, the Revolution, Napoleon’s grand boulevards, and the glittering belle époque. Each chapter situates the city’s physical development within the broader currents of French and European history.
Compact, readable, and genuinely informative, The Story of Paris makes an ideal introduction for visitors or readers seeking to understand how the French capital became the cultural centre of Western civilisation. A classic of popular urban history.