If Adam Gopnik�s Paris to the Moon described daily life in contemporary Paris, this book describes daily life in Paris throughout its history: a history of the city from the point of view of the Parisians themselves. Paris captures everyone�s imaginations: It�s a backdrop for Proust�s fictional pederast, Robert Doisneau�s photographic kiss, and Edith Piaf�s serenaded soldier-lovers; a home as much to romance and love poems as to prostitution and opium dens. The many pieces of the city coexist, each one as real as the next. What�s more, the conflicted identity of the city is visible everywhere�between cobblestones, in bars, on the m�tro. In this lively and lucid volume, Andrew Hussey brings to life the urchins and artists who�ve left their marks on the city, filling in the gaps of a history that affected the disenfranchised as much as the nobility. Paris: The Secret History ranges across centuries, movements, and cultural and political beliefs, from Napoleon�s overcrowded cemeteries to Balzac�s nocturnal flight from his debts. For Hussey, Paris is a city whose long and conflicted history continues to thrive and change. The book�s is a picaresque journey through royal palaces, brothels, and sidewalk caf�s, uncovering the rich, exotic, and often lurid history of the world�s most beloved city.