A preeminent writer on Paris, John Baxter brilliantly brings to life one of the most dramatic and fascinating periods in the city's history. During World War I, the terrifying sounds of the nearby front could be heard from inside the French capital ; Germany's "Paris Gun" and enemy aviators routinel
We'll Always Have Paris
โ Scribed by Professor of History Harvey A Levenstein
- Publisher
- University of Chicago Press
- Year
- 2014
- Tongue
- English
- Leaves
- 397
- Edition
- New
- Category
- Library
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
โฆ Synopsis
For much of the twentieth century, Americans had a love/hate relationship with France. While many admired its beauty, culture, refinement, and famed "joie de vivre," others thought of it as a dilapidated country populated by foul-smelling, mean-spirited anti-Americans driven by a keen desire to part tourists from their money. "We'll Always Have Paris" explores how both images came to flourish in the United States, often in the minds of the same people. Harvey Levenstein takes us back to the 1930s, when, despite the Great Depression, France continued to be the stomping ground of the social elite of the eastern seaboard. After World War II, wealthy and famous Americans returned to the country in droves, helping to revive its old image as a wellspring of sophisticated and sybaritic pleasures. At the same time, though, thanks in large part to Communist and Gaullist campaigns against U.S. power, a growing sensitivity to French anti-Americanism began to color tourists' experiences there, strengthening the negative images of the French that were already embedded in American culture. But as the century drew on, the traditional positive images were revived, as many Americans again developed an appreciation for France's cuisine, art, and urban and rustic charms. Levenstein, in his colorful, anecdotal style, digs into personal correspondence, journalism, and popular culture to shape a story of one nation's relationship to another, giving vivid play to Americans' changing response to such things as France's reputation for sexual freedom, "haute cuisine," high fashion, and racial tolerance. He puts this tumultuous coupling of France and the United States in historical perspective, arguing that while some in Congress say we may no longer have french fries, others, like Humphrey Bogart in "Casablanca," know they will always have Paris, and France, to enjoy and remember.
โฆ Table of Contents
Contents
Preface
1. Great Depression Follies
ONE: It Sometimes Rains in Nice
TWO: The Return of the Middle Classes
THREE: โBeautiful Beyond Beliefโ: Cultural Tourism Survives
FOUR: Watching the World Go By
2. War and Revival
FIVE: Martial Visitors
SIX: A Tattered Welcome Mat
SEVEN: Searching for Sartre
EIGHT: โCoca-Colonizationโ and Its Discontents
NINE: โWhat Country Has So Much to Offer?โ
TEN: โBandwagons Work like Magic in Tourismโ
3. Loving and Hating
ELEVEN: The Worms Turn: 1962โ72
TWELVE: โThis Space Ship Is Going to Parisโ
THIRTEEN: Bouncing Back: The 1980s
FOURTEEN: Postmodern Tourism
FIFTEEN: Nobodyโs Perfect
Abbreviations for Frequently Cited Sources
Notes
Index
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