From Kirkus Reviews:
An informed and fascinating survey of Paris's hectic decade before the Nazi occupation, highlighting the contrast between the glittering culture and the collapsing civilization. Bernier (Words of Fire, Deeds of Blood, 1989, etc.) takes on the challenging task of sorting out the threads of the confusing political, social, economic, and aesthetic fabric of a society that in some ways was at its peak and, in others, was near dissolution. The title refers to ``the last great assertion of European (and French) cultural and social superiority''--an excellence in fashion (Schiaparelli), art (Picasso, Mir¢, Dali), literature (Gide, Malraux), and diplomacy (Elsa Maxwell and US Ambassador William Bullitt). But Paris, the most powerful cultural center in Europe, enjoying a peace and prosperity that were rapidly disappearing in other parts of the world, also offered a special style of life, glamorous and pleasure-oriented--a society of costume balls, nightclubs, theaters, opera; a world of display and innovation that included everything from autos to yo-yos. The ``other Paris'' of the music hall (Josephine Baker and Maurice Chevalier), brothels, and sidewalk caf‚s was equally festive, providing escape from the poverty, alienation, unemployment, class conflict, and political despair that afflicted the masses. Those who cared periodically but ineffectually rioted over the political corruption, while an inept government became an easy target for the Nazis, with whom some French aristocrats had been socializing. Poignant and incisive, Bernier, with a journalist's eye for meaningful detail, captures this confused era when the City of Light, at its brightest, was overcome by a political darkness from which it never recovered. (Thirty b&w photographs--not seen.) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
From Library Journal:
This is a richly detailed and immensely readable overview of the social, artistic, and political life in Paris during a brilliant decade of extraordinary cultural achievement. Bernier, a prolific author, art historian, and leading authority on French history, juxtaposes the richness and, at times, frivolity of life among the Parisian glitterati with the menacing storm clouds of foreign affairs and the deepening economic and political divisions within France itself. Although the mass of the population was excluded from the social whirl involving Chanel, Schiaparelli, Dali, Picasso, and Gide, and the flowering of the arts contrasted sharply with the increasing incompetence of a government engaged in what the author terms "a dance of the ministries," Bernier argues that the Thirties represented the last brilliant moment for Paris as a world capital of civilization. While his tone is at times condemnatory, he argues that the French took pride in their brilliant social life, seeing it as the one last area where France still led the world. Bernier completes his poignant tale with an epilog on how Parisian life changed with the onset of war. Highly recommended.
- Marie Marmo Mullaney, Caldwell Coll., N.J.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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