Monuments That Tell Stories Of Paris: From The Roman Arena To The Grande Arche At La Défense

Condition remarks:
Hardcover - no dust jacket Secondhand book: generally 'Very Good' to 'Excellent'. These are books which may have some slight wear and tear or sun fading on the edges. There may be an inscription at the front.

Paris is a city written in stone, and Monuments that Tell Stories of Paris brings that living archive to vivid life, tracing the arc of Western civilisation from the ancient Roman Arena of Lutetia to the soaring modernist Grande Arche at La Défense. Written by Jean Daly, illustrated by Olivier Audy, and with photography by David W. Coe, the book presents each landmark not merely as architecture but as a narrative — a chapter in the long, dramatic story of one of the world's most celebrated cities. The writing moves with warmth and authority, making complex history accessible without sacrificing depth, while Audy's illustrations lend the work a distinctly Parisian charm. Beyond the stones and façades, the book argues that monuments are the truest biography of a city, each one encoding the ambitions, tragedies, and triumphs of the era that produced it. Daly's approach rewards both the armchair traveller and the curious visitor, illuminating how a single street in Paris can span two thousand years of human endeavour. For anyone who has ever stood before Notre-Dame or the Eiffel Tower and wondered what stories those walls could tell, this is the book that finally answers.