"Spanning Paris's history from the earliest days to the present, this book traces the city's story through kings and queens, revolutions and wars, massacres and plagues. But it also brings Paris's fabled outsiders alive - vagabonds, immigrants, prostitutes and criminals, whose experiences are markedly different from those related in official histories." "Paris itself is like a palimpsest: the very stones and street names allude to its often violent and turbulent past. It is a city of secret adventures, of hidden meanings which, on journeys from royal palaces to bars, brothels and opium dens, this book uncovers. Paris is written to be used. It is a history book that can be taken to the bar, on the metro, into the heart of the labyrinth itself. Beautifully written and brilliantly engaging, this is a portrait of an endlessly fascinating city."--Jacket.