Epicentre of the Revolution of 1789, erstwhile bastion of the skilled working-class and centre of radical agitation, along with Pigalle and Montmartre a focus for popular and raffish night-life in the early twentieth century, the Bastille area of Eastern Paris (also known as the Faubourg Saint-Antoine) is now an ethnically and socially mixed quartier which still bears the traces of its previous avatars. In a fascinating tour, Keith Reader charts the history and cultural geography of this unique area of Paris, from the fortress and prison that gave the area its name to the building of the largest and costliest opera house in the world.

What is provocative about the text is an underlying argument that Paris cannot yet be consigned as a living museum. It is this spark which catches fire soon into the book and makes it so entertaining and accessible … an important book not only because it illuminates one of the many shadowy places in Parisian history, but because it has an importance for anyone interested in cities and what they might mean.

Andrew Hussey

A wonderful piece of work that cuts a new path through French studies. Using topography to bring history, anthropology, literature and the arts into a single focus, the book is also a guide or mode d'emploi for each and all who have affection for Paris and, more broadly, gallic culture.

Tom Conley Source: Harvard University

... a well-argued, thoroughly-researched and scholarly work, it is vibrant and readable enough to interest a readership from outside the academic community from which Reader comes

Source: Urban Landfill