Description: The years before the First World War have long been romanticized as a zenith of French culture--the "Belle Époque." Dominique Kalifa traces the making--and the imagining--of the Belle Époque to reveal how and why it became a cultural myth.
Review Quotes: American readers, especially those who came of age after World War II, will quickly call up Toulouse-Lautrec posters on their walls and memories of first touring Paris. Kalifa gives those memories historical footings and explains their origins, providing a useful, informative portrait for scholars and Francophiles alike.-- "Kirkus Reviews"