Paris

The French Fascination with the Cadavers of the Bastille

by Nicole Bauer

The prison held a symbolic place in the minds of antiroyalists that exceeded its actual significance; the themes of gothic horror were reflected in political tracts that denounced the horrors of imprisonment there. 

How Paris Kicked out the Cars

Planners and politicians used post-WWII prosperity to remake Paris for cars, making it one of the most car-saturated big cities. Recent changes led by Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo have show what can happen when priority is given to air quality and public space (though not every Parisian agrees). 

France Approves Controversial Notre-Dame Renovations; Conservatives Call it "Politically Correct"

Father Gilles Drouin argues that “the cathedral has always been open to art from the contemporary period."

Pandemic Lessons From the Era of ‘Les Miserables’

Medical historian Ed Cohen describes the 1832 cholera outbreak as "imperial blowback," as the disease arrived in Europe from their colonies. Nearly 2% of the city's population died, but the aftermath saw an increase in migration from the countryside and a flourishing of public health-oriented planning. 

Notre Dame: The Soul of France (Review)

by Jeff Roquen

Agnès Poirier's book describes the central place of the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris in the city and in French history both religious and secular, and the angst provoked by its threatened destruction by fire in 2019.

Paris, City of Dreams: Napoleon III, Baron Haussmann and the Creation of Paris

by Jeff Roquen

Nothing can compare to a visit to Paris, but until international travel resumes, readers can learn how the modern city was built through Mary McAulliffe's book. 

Nazi Lockdown

by Ronald C. Rosbottom

The German occupation crushed ordinary life in Paris as its citizens hid from the “brown plague.”

"Fiction Makes a Better Job of The Truth"? Telling the Erased Story of Lucia Joyce

by Annabel Abbs

A historical novel exposes the complex relationship between historians and sources: "Because Lucia’s own voice had been effectively smothered, most ‘facts’ came from those later responsible for incarcerating her in a series of mental asylums and hospitals. Few sources are genuinely independent, memory is notoriously fickle, and all facts are open to interpretation."

Love in Post World War II Paris

by Bruce Chadwick

An American in Paris is a complicated story of a man who loves a woman.

Paris celebrates its liberation from Nazis, 75 years on

Paris celebrated the American soldiers, French Resistance fighters and others who liberated the City of Light from Nazi occupation exactly 75 years ago on Sunday, unleashing an eruption of kissing, dancing, tears and gratitude.

The story behind the towering Notre Dame spire and the 30-year-old architect commissioned to rebuild it

Less than a week before fire tore through Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, a repair crew brought down religious statues for the first time in more than a century. 

A history of great cathedrals that have been lost to fire and war

Notre Dame is one in a long line of cathedrals that have been ravaged by fire or war.

Notre Dame was in ruins. Victor Hugo’s novel about a hunchback saved it.

France has rebuilt its iconic cathedral before.

The Sorrow of Watching Notre Dame Burn

by Ed Simon

"In this age of uncertainty, of rage, of horror, and of violence; of the decline of democracy and the heating of the planet; it can feel as if Notre-Dame’s fire is as if watching the very world itself be engulfed."

The American Tourist in Paris: A Retrospective

by Lauren Jannette

Although no longer breaking furniture, running out on checks, and throwing racist fits about the evening’s entertainment, Americans remain an integral part of Paris’s continued debates over the benefits and detriments of being one of the world’s largest tourists destinations. 

Video of the Week: Edited Film Footage from 1890’s Paris Explores Some of the Everyday Thrills of Late 19th-Century Life

by Kate Sierzputowski

Videographer Guy Jones slows down film from the late 1800s to early 1900s to more accurately match the speed at which modern footage is recorded and played. In addition to editing the pace of the century-old film, Jones also adds in sound effects to make the scenes more relatable.

15 stunning photos that show how Paris has changed since World War II

by Rick Noack

Seventy years ago this month, the Allied forces defeated the Nazis. How have things changed since then?

The Paris Tragedy and the War Within Islam

by Brian Glyn Williams

A Journey into the Battle for the Soul of the Muslim World.

University of Evansville history professor's cartoon response to Paris shootings read around the world

Picked up by the news website Vox, James MacLeod's cartoon was soon featured among the cream of the crop of editorial cartoonists' responses published around the globe online and in print.

Sharpening Contradictions: Why al-Qaeda attacked Satirists in Paris

by Juan Cole

"The horrific murder of the editor, cartoonists and other staff of the irreverent satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, along with two policemen, by terrorists in Paris was in my view a strategic strike, aiming at polarizing the French and European public."