Walks Through Lost Paris: A Journey Into the Heart of Historic Paris

Description

"Walks Through Lost Paris" chronicles Paris's great periods of urban reconstruction through four enlightening walking tours. Detailed maps lead the traveller on an itinerary to the perspectives of the photographers and artists who captured Paris through with their lenses and pens decades ago. In full-colour, hundreds of photos, diagrams, and engravings further bring to life the massive transformation that resulted in the Paris we know today. When he discovered that the city he lived in for many years was actually a city rebuilt during the mid-1800s, Leonard Pitt plunged head first into Paris's history, and began photographing what he learned had changed. Eventually, he lead tours and gave lectures on the demolition and reconstruction that changed Paris forever. With a special focus on the work of Georges-Eugene Haussmann, each site is provided a history along with the motives behind the urban redesign and the reactions of Parisians who witnessed it. Comparing today's Paris with images of a Paris that no longer exists, the traveller can experience first hand the dramatic evolution and discover the impact of succeeding generations. This book is for the Francophile, travel-minded, history buff, architecturally-curious-or anyone interested in learning about one of the world's great cities.

Leonard Pitt is an actor and author. He has written two books on Paris, Walks Through Lost Paris and Paris Postcards- The Golden Age, plus A Small Moment of Great Illumination. He currently codirects The Flying Actor Studio, a conservatory for the study of physical theater located in San Francisco. He has performed and taught around the world and lives in Berkeley, California.