Paris at the End of the World: The City of Light During the Great War,

Through a lively blend of memoirs, reminiscences, and modern day adventure, John Baxter (author of The Perfect Meal and Immoveable Feast ) takes us into the heart of Paris during The Great War. One of the most fascinating periods in the city's history, 1914-18 saw the citizens of France under constant threat of German invasion, leading them to live like there was no tomorrow. Tracing the experiences of his own grandfather-an Australian serviceman who found himself in Paris during that fateful year-Baxter explores firsthand the mythology of the period, researching the cafes these young men would have frequented, the romances they might have had, and the transformative mix of fear and freedom among the people that gave rise to the France of modern day. Paris at the End of the World tells the story of this change from both sides-that of the young soldiers who came to France, and of the Parisians who awaited them. For the French, 1914 meant drinking the last of the wine of pleasure before facing the reality of the modern world. For the foreigners, who had never drank wine before, the experience left them transformed, and able to enter the post-war world transformed.