Paris in Ruins

By Sebastian Smee,

Book cover of Paris in Ruins

Book description

From the summer of 1870 to the spring of 1871, famously dubbed the "Terrible Year" by Victor Hugo, Paris and its people were besieged, starved, and forced into surrender by Germans-then imperiled again as radical republicans established a breakaway Commune, ultimately crushed by the French Army after bloody street battles…


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Why read it?

1 author picked Paris in Ruins as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

The art critic for the Washington Post, Sebastian Smee, focuses on the 'année terrible' of 1870-71 in Paris and the explosive mix of war, revolution and artistic brilliance which generated the first Impressionist salon in 1874. This is a gripping story of violence and suffering, love and artistic brilliance.

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