Champs-Elysees, The

Considered internationally as one of the most beautiful avenue in the world, Paris's Champs-Elysees, extending from the Place de la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe, has been the center of the city's elegant shopping, glitzy cabarets, cafes, and restaurants as well as the theatre for its great public events for more than 150 years. From the Second Empire to present-day heads of state, cosmopolitan aristocrats, actors, and writers have frequented its smart residences and hotels, while fashionable people from around the world have strolled the Avenue, browsing in exclusive shops and dining in haute-cuisine restaurants. The avenue has also been the scene for some of the world's great sporting exploits, from the dare-devil landing of a dirigible by the great Brazilian aviator Santos Dumont to the annual arrival of the Tour de France cycle race. Through an incisive and informative text and a selection of 150 photographs by leading names of twentieth-century photography, such as Cartier-Bresson and Lartigue, Robert Capa, Raymond Depardon and Bruno Barbey of Magnum, among others, this volume chronicles a century of the greatest moments in the history of one of the world's great streets, from the creation of the Lido cabaret during the 1920s and the establishment of luxurious shops such as Guerlain, Vuitton, and Paul Poiret, to the events surrounding the Liberation of Paris and the victory march in 1944, the urban renaissance of the avenue in 1994, and recent cultural events and parades encompassing the entire avenue. This unique album brings to life some of the most memorable images of one of the world's most visited cities.