City On the Seine: Paris in the Time of Richelieu and Louis XIV, 1614-1715

Andrew Trout's new book on Paris during the period preceding the end Louis XIV's reign is a fascinating social history of the city anchored by the lives of two of its most famous citizens: Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV. Beginning with the emergence of Richelieu as a political force and concluding with the end of Louis XIV's reign, Trout describes the city as it looked during the seventeenth century and answers a myriad of interesting questions: Did the houses have numbers? Were residential buildings flush with the street? What was anyone likely to see along the River Seine? By answering such questions, Trout constructs a social history of the city that is unequalled. Trout's book is illustrated with maps and engravings that bring the city to life. City on the Seine is an indispensable work of social history.