France Books

For the British, Ypres and the Somme are the definitive battles of the Great War. In this retelling of the latter, Hart has set the standard by which the newest generation of Great War history will be measured. This is a magnificently researched and readable look at arguably the most deadly battle of that deadly war. Hart is curator of the Imperial War Museum's audio archive and he puts to good use his familiarity with that wonderful resource. The result is direct quotes from dozens of participating soldiers. These recorded histories are in large part new sources (at least for me as a reader of Great War history) as opposed to the letters, diaries, and official histories that usually make up the bibliograpy of works such as these. Add to this Hart's sharp writing style, insightful comments, and ease at making sense of chaotic and confusing battle scenes (something that unfortunately is too rare among WWI historians) and you have a book that is difficult to put down, no matter how much you already know about the Somme. The author also does not shrink from describing the horror of battle, and in fact devotes an entire chapter to the medical services (such as they were) at the Somme. He is critical more of Rawlinson and Gough than of Haig (although admiting that Sir Douglas was ultimately responsible for his army commanders' actions) and covers all the major actions of the battle in some detail. One is certainly reminded of Lyn McDonald's work when reading this, but Hart gives us more than McDonald did in her account of the Somme in that her focus on the stories of veterans left portions of the battle undiscussed. While McDonald's version remains a masterwork, Hart's will join it as a magnificent recounting of those 4 1/2 months in 1916.

I have read litterally hundreds of books on WWII but this is one of the first on WW1. What a way to start. This book is really outstanding. I am about 3/4 of the way through and its still a great read and I have a hard time putting it down. The attention to detail is awesome, with the best part being the gripping natatives from the soldiers themselves. This book literally leaves the reader speachless at the horror of this battle. This book is amust-have for someone who wants to understand what WW1 was like for the average foot soldier in the trenches.

Many bloody battles have a moment, often commemorated in a painting, of a glorious death or act of defiance that makes the bloodletting and terror bearable, at least in retrospect. Napoleon leading his men across the bridge at Arcole, Armistead reaching for the Federal guns at Gettysburg, McAulliffe responding "Nuts" to the demand for surrender.

The Somme had more than its share of heroism, but nothing that makes a good painting or heartening story for schoolchildren. Instead the Somme is men venturing out from trenches to kill each other in a small, brown, inglorious landscape. My girlfriend calls the Hart's massive tome "the maggoty corpse book," and the great number of unburied bodies is a note running repeatedly in its many first hand accounts from soldiers of many lands.

Hart does tend to fault Rawlinson to what I thought was an excessive extent. Rawlinson's main fault seems to be not resigning rather than follow the direction of Douglas Haig. It should be noted that most generals leading their country's conscripts would have been sacked after the July 1 slaughter north of the Bapaume road, where numerous New Army battalions were mowed down for little lost to the Germans except ammunition. Haig was not. Haig retained the top command, set the tone, and the learning curve of the British Army after July 1st was an embarrasingly low and bumpy one. And Haig was still making the same mistakes of overambitious attacks in 1917.

Peter Hart has produced a number of books from the IWM "First Person Stories" which make a tremendous source for the historian seeking answers to "how could this have happened?" This new work, The Somme, along with Bloody April, are Hart's new works separate from long time co-author Nigel Steel.

The Somme is an outstanding, highly readable work which uses historical facts to tie together hundreds of first hand accounts of the battle. This book makes no attempt to put the unmitigated horror of the story into a larger historical framework of World War I. It tells the story of soldiers who endured the four month bloodbath of 1916 which produced little but to relieve pressure on the French at Verdun.

I highly recommend this work as an interesting and informative "read" that lets the reader draw his own conclusions about the waste of the "Pals Battalions".

This book provides descriptions of all the parks in the area it covers, with maps that show nearly all hiking trails and advice on when is the best time of year for each. I wish the equivalent books for other parts of the bay area were this complete.

For over a year this book has been my bible for selecting hikes in the south bay area. The authors' trail descriptions are vivid, and their routes are planned well. I have two major grievances: first, their loquacious style can make it hard to determine exactly what turns you're supposed to take and when. Secondly, finding a hike is too cumbersome: you go to page 18 to search the map for the park you want, then back to the table of contents to find the page number for the park, then forward to the actual content. The map should be in the very front or back of the book and should include page numbers. Despite those annoyances, I still bring this book with me every weekend, and can recommend it as a good guide.

This is a wonderful book that goes into great deatil about the many trails in and around the South Bay. It breaks down the area by specific parks and then suggested hikes, including mileage, elevation loss or gain, and time. It even has a neat little appendix outlining hikes by category (ie., short hikes, hikes to see spring flowers, etc.) The text is detailed, explaining what you will find around every bend, and the historical information on the parks is very interesting. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to get out and away from the hustle and bustle of Silicon Valley.

I just replaced my battered copy of the first edition with the latest, third one, and it's a real winner! These authors' books are always educational, interesting and complete. And best of all they lead one into many fine hiking adventures around the bay. I've spent many a fine summer day following their instructions. It's about time they put out a new edition, because of all the new parks and trails they had to cover. Recommended!

I know this is bizarre, but this book is one of my all-time favourites. Spanish was more or less an exotic language in my native Bosnia, so it was a tremendous adventure for me when I started learning it. I am now able to read 10 languages, but I never experienced such excitement and easiness again while learning a language, not even with other Assimil books. After about a year, I became fluent in Spanish, without having had any contact to native speakers, and it is still the language I probably cherish more than any other. Oh yes, the tapes are in a funny Spanish accent which cracked my Chilean teacher up when I started taking classes with her, but that is not a serious drawback. Enjoy!

Assimil programs are based on effortless assimilation of the language material. I believe that Assimil programs are most popular language learning programs in Europe.

From the very beginning you are immersed in the language - the program has about 100 lessons, and each seventh lesson is dedicated to review and additional grammatical notes.

Each lesson contains short dialogues and is accompanied by any notes and grammatical explations, which are also reviewed later on. Throughout the book are interspersed cartoons and jokes making learning of Spanish even more enjoyable and fun.

Note: The tapes and CDs that accompany the book are spoken with Castillan pronounciation (Spanish spoken in Spain), and not Latino American.

I already took the course, French with ease. It was so easy to understand. I was going to a Spanish school to learn spanish as well. The book Spanish with ease, made me drop out of the class to expidite the learning process with this book and tapes.

What do you call someone who speaks three languages? "Trilingual." What do you call someone who speaks two languages? "Bilingual." What do you call someone who speaks one language? "An American."

Years of grade school Spanish and some college French did little to make me any less the butt of this quip. But thanks to a tip from a language-loving friend, I now can aspire at least to being 1.5lingual. Assimil publishes book/tape (or CD) language packages for dozens of languages, including French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, and Arabic ("Arabic with Ease?!") -- all with the title [Language] with Ease. I worked through the Spanish with Ease book/tape set, and have dabbled with the French with Ease and Italian with Ease set. All are well thought-out and inviting, without descending into the simplistic phrase-book pap that characterizes many language learning tools. The Assimil method is conversational, but they aren't afraid to teach you grammar along the way. The lessons introduce idioms early on, the later lessons have you reading real poems, and there's a pretty good grammatical appendix of verbs. An added bonus is that the books, though compact and lightweight, have a sewn binding and a sturdy cover -- unlike most modern paperbacks, they should hold up to repeated use and the rigors of the rucksack.

My only gripe about the books is that they aren't edited with sufficient care, which results in some formatting errors and a few wrongly spelled words. I didn't find it difficult to catch the errors, but these otherwise excellent books deserve more thorough editing.

(Note to travelers: The speakers on the Spanish with Ease tapes use a Castillian accent of the sort you'll encounter in most of Spain, but not in Latin America. Your Latin-American-Spanish-speaking friends may find the accent either amusing, quaint, annoying, or unintelligible.)

Assimil programs are based on effortless assimilation of the language material. I believe that Assimil programs are most popular language learning programs in Europe.

From the very beginning you are immersed in the language - the program has 109 lessons on 478 pages and 4 CDs with approximately 3 and half hours of audio entirely in Spanish.

Each lesson contains short dialogues and is accompanied by any notes and grammatical explations, which are also reviewed later on. Throughout the book are interspersed cartoons and jokes making learning of Spanish even more enjoyable and fun.

Note: The tapes / CDs that accompany the book are spoken with Castillan pronounciation - Spanish spoken in Spain - not in Latin American.

Once you're done with this book, you can continue onto the next volume - "Using Spanish".

I like the program. It really throws you into the deep end of the pool. I just think it throws too much at you at the beggining which may discourage the novice. I reccomend Michel Thomas Spanish Deluxe for the complete beginner. After doing Michel Thomas Advance going to Assimil is probably a good next step.

I don't think you really can learn a foreign language on your own. But as far as these self-studying tools are concerned, Assimil's Spanish with Ease shows that they have put in the thought and effort to design the courses. It is well worth the extra money (compared to other self-taught Spanish books.)

Let me first tell you what this is not. It's not a phrase book for tourists and is not a comprehensive Spanish grammar course, and it doesn't give you a free dictionary. And you need to sit down and read the book to learn (I simply don't buy the "All-Audio" model by Living Learning.) But if you are serious about learning Spanish on your own (i.e. actually going through all the lessons), Assimil is a very effective tool.

For example, the book is printed in Spanish on odd-numbered pages and corresponding English on even-numbered pages so that people could refrain from "cheating" by looking up the English. The lessons are mostly interesting dialogues that could arise in daily life. It provides informative footnotes that explain idiomatic usages. It gives a pretty detailed grammatical appendix (including some irregular verbs) and variations of regional usages in a dozen Spanish-speaking countries. It also have very fun cartoons to go with the lessons. The accented syllables are boldfaced.

Assimil programs are based on effortless assimilation of the language material. I believe that Assimil programs are most popular language learning programs in Europe.

From the very beginning you are immersed in the language - the program has 109 lessons on 478 pages and 4 CDs with approximately 3 and half hours of audio entirely in Spanish.

Each lesson contains short dialogues and is accompanied by any notes and grammatical explations, which are also reviewed later on. Throughout the book are interspersed cartoons and jokes making learning of Spanish even more enjoyable and fun.

Note: The tapes / CDs that accompany the book are spoken with Castillan pronounciation - Spanish spoken in Spain - not in Latin American.

Once you're done with this book, you can continue onto the next volume - "Using Spanish".

Giovanni Verga wrote several novels that were, at their essence, Sicilian family sagas. Sparrow is not one the them. Instead, this exquisite miniature is an intimate psychological portrait of one young girl, a girl destined to become a nun against her wishes, a portrait of her one and only summer of happiness and the ultimate tragedy that underscores her life.

The plot of this lovely novella could have so easily degenrated into pure, unvarnished sentimentality in the hands of an author less talented than Verga. Verga's descriptions of the people, of the Sicilian countryside, of convent life, as well as his use of third person narration, are so convincing, so full of sharp edges, that we can't help but believe they are real.

Boosting the book's credibility, however, is the undeniable fact that Catholic Europe often sent its unwanted sons and daughters to both monasteries and convents. This was simply cruel social reality; whether or not the child in question actually had a religious vocation was deemed superfluous. Sicily was the last to abandon this inhumane practice and, as a result, it's convents became little more than rceptacles of human refuse: filthy, overcrowded buildings that housed unwilling, but desperate, residents.

It would seem that Verga's story has some basis in fact. Some of his aunts were nuns and his mother, Donna Caterina, a member of the minor nobility, had been convent educated. She, herself, told Verga the story of a young girl who lived in a convent in the "madowman's cell," a place from which were heard shrieks, moans and ungodly bursts of inhuman laughter.

Set in 1854, Sparrow depicts a Sicily ravaged by the cholera epidemic. The emotions depicted in the book are both organized and feverish and it is to Verga's credit that he keeps them from spilling over into melodrama.

The story, itself, is told in a series of letters. These letters begin rationally enough but they soon begin to be filled with madness...the madness of an absolute love that could never be.

Simple and poetic, Sparrow tells a horrifying tale that so easily could have slipped into the cliche, yet happily doesn't. A wonderful study of a life gone so terrible wrong.

This book has the power of transporting the reader into the life of the main character and making him/her sympathize with Maria. However individual her particular condition may be (fortunately, not many women are forced into convents nowadays), her story goes beyond the specific events to symbolize the idea of being forced into the wrong vocation, being denied freedom of choice and the extreme consequences of psychological violence.

An immediate classic since its first publication, it strikes a chord with people worldwide since almost everyone has sooner or later lived through a predicament that felt similar in principle to Maria's. Highly recommended. I've already read it twice.

I discovered the book "Sparrow" a couple of years ago when watching the film. I was taken aback by the storline, that i could not resist but find the actual book which i knew would be more equisite than the film. It depicts the psychological suffering of young lady(Maria), who spends a magnificent summer away from the convent only to fall in love with her neighbour'son. She is forced to return to the convent and bare the sorrow of being without the one she loves. Verga carefully depicts the character's emotion of rejection and denial.

It is a book that does not fail to emotionally move one, when reading. A definite 5 star novel.

This is a must read - brilliantly written. Although the story line - love between unequals, forced separation etc. - may sound trite, Sparrow is anything but trite. The writing is tightly crafted in a style that is very contemporary - I was surprised that the author was not a contemporary of Tabucchi, et. al. Do give this book a try.

They were captivated from the very opening when Mary was the only survivor of a lightening strike. The fact that Mary made her first major discovery when she was only twelve demonstrates to children that it is possible for them to achieve great/important things. My girls were so interested in paleontology after reading this book that it has spurred them on to learning more about Mary Anning, fossils and evolution. They have since gone fossil hunting and were thrilled to be just like Stone Girl, Bone Girl!

This book introduces children (and adults like me!) to an inpsirational scientist. The artwork is superb and the story of a 12 year old girl who makes an important scientific discovery is captivating. I recommend this book for any child who is interested in science, paleontology, history, or art (or who just likes a good story!)!

There are a few picture books out about Mary Anning! All of them are good, but this is THE ONE to read to younger kids! The illustrations are vibrant and colorful. The story is punchy and fun! Kids will be amazed by the story of a young girl who gets struck by lightning as an infant, survives, and as a child finds the fossil of one of the world's largest dinosaurs! It's all true! There's even a dog companion! Buy it and read it to your kids, they won't soon forget it!

I can't remember a more beautifully written children's book since my children were born. The way the story was told was so simple and yet so powerful, I have no hesitation in recommending this to anyone with children. I read it to my 3 and 5 year old girls and they ask for it every night. Simply beautiful.

I read this autobiography with some misgivings, I thought it may be the usual Catholic orientated stuff.I must admit that after the full reading, I was moved to tears at the pain this lovely young novice experienced in her short life and the extreme love that she had,(at all stages in her life) for our Lord. Yes, I'm a practising Catholic, but I think that the reading of this book (I'm now slowly reading it for the 3rd time) has changed my whole life and I'd like to think her story has made me a better Catholic.

This is a lovely book by 'the greatest saint of modern times.' read any chapter and you will see the heart of Catholicism. You will learn catholic spirituality and the reason why Therese was a saint. Some men have said they are improved every time they read this book. It is true. Besides the Eucharist itself, St. Therese is the saint that drew me into the Church. Her Little Way gives me hope that perhaps we all have a chance of getting to heaven.

This is a wonderful book! It's St. Theresa's own story of her childhood, written at the request of her sister who was the Mother Superior of her Carmelite Monastery at the time. She tells about her mischievous activities as a charming little girl in the midst of her extraordinarily loving family. A most engaging story.

In terms of her ability to maneuver words in the written form, Saint Therese of Lisieux was not as established as other writers such as St. Augustine or Thomas Merton. For this trait, she often apologizes in her writing. However, her insight in developing a relationship with Jesus and her devotion to that relationship make a profound statement. Even in the littlest of sacrifices, she shows herself growing closer to Jesus. The message outweighs the writing style in terms of importance.

The product of three separate journals St. Therese kept during her short life, the book can be divided into these sections: The story of her life, the letter written to Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart, and the notebook written for Rev. Mother Marie de Gonzague. While each of these writing tasks were given as an assigned task, they had a greater purpose and may have been the most important work of St. Therese's life. Even at a very young age, St. Therese showed strong devotion to the Lord. The story of her life makes up the greatest percentage of the book. Despite the death of her mother at a young age, St. Therese seemed happy and her devotion led her to pursue a devotional life at an unusually young age.

In her short life, St. Therese saw the unbelievable and was touched by the hand of God. She showed her devotion even in the smallest of sacrifices. Still I believe that nothing is more touching than the initial pages of the book. It is perhaps one of the best explanations of God's love.

A reviewer describes Strangers in Paradise as a book for those who have "longed to spend a summer in the French countryside" or "even considered such an escape." But the book is far more than this-it is about a family's immersion in another culture, about how outsiders become insiders, and about comparative cultural values. It is also about France-not the tourist's France, but the real present and historical place, with local legends and characters. Information that in other context might be dull is enlivened by the writer's interpretation of its meaning. Christensen examines the particulars of the place more closely then we who have not chosen or considered our homes do. The road into Apt, the closest city to his home, he describes in such detail that the reader can travel with him along this road, and even the more negative images have their appeal: "The southern fork is gone, the other winds along the north side in a walled trench with scattered bridges crossing it. The lycee Charles de Gaulle stands on the far side, with its dusty playing fields and gray buildings, where all three of my children would later attend. The water crawls over marsh grass and sandbars, the riverbed littered with tires and rubbish from the spring floods; a blackened tunnel arches where the river still takes in tributaries from the hills."
The French live more than Americans do through their senses, and this book shows the author and his family's eager adoption of the French love of food and drink, colors, fragrances. The senses are bound to the spirit in France, in particularly in the south of France. Meals are truly sacraments, and the life of the table is parallel to the life of the heart. The delight and communion of the dinner table, casual meals on terraces, sharing of food and conversation surfaces often. Food becomes bond, and true friendship is inextricably woven into the sharing of meals and time.
Indeed, the friendships made by the Christensens are an important element in their experience of their new location, and specific names appear frequently. The friends were the conduit of the real France-a way of learning that could not be approached in any other way. Each step of immersion in another kind of life requires preparation, and the new neighbors and friends helped the Christensens prepare. Anecdotes about those they befriended give another perspective on village life, allowing the reader to catch glimpses of it as it would appear to those born into it.
The writer's adopted France becomes a magical place, its hills and valleys charged with metaphysical meaning. There is a pantheism to Christensen's perspective, and a metaphysics that is not associated with any religion. It has to do with the effects of light, the natural surroundings, the presence of art in everyday life, the visibility of the past in the present. This sense of the sacred illuminated all aspects of the renovation of his house, much of which was undertaken by the owners themselves. Cathy Christensen's skilled photography brings the visual to the verbal through carefully chosen scenes of the village and countryside and of her family in the stages of their becoming part of it.

This book came to me as a gift. It had never occurred to me that I'd want to see Southern France. Nevertheless I eased into it, and very soon this writer's lyrical prose drew me into his narrative. I began to not only see this place Mr. Christensen and his family had fallen in love with, but I could smell it, feel its warm breezes -- and I began seeing myself touring Provence.

Here's a prose master, a writer at the top of his craft, and whether or not you are interested in this part of France now, soon enough you'll find yourself pulled along, eager to see and feel and smell the old hills and tiny hamlets that are the center of this memoir.

Paul Christensen is now on my list of writers to be read for style as well as content. A wonderful find!

Most travel stories don't have the depth. This book was more philosophical and spiritual. There were passages worth remembering and reflecting upon. I better understand my keen interest and attachment to France and nature. It was food for my soul. I especially related to the idea of the three types of people on the planet. I'm now reading a novel by Gustaf Sobin who befriended Paul in Provence. I too love the Luberon and all it signifies and offers that's not available in the U.S.

Anyone who has already fallen in love with France and its South or may want to, but has dared not, order in this beautifully written memoir of the author and his family's love affair with the French and Provencal people and cultures. Travel guides about Provence abound. This book is much more than a sight seers handbook, intended to lure us to the villages, marketplaces, restaurants, and ruins of one of the most interesting, beautiful, and ancient regions of France. Its uniqueness lies in its author's careful crafting of his philosophy of life and how Provence has supported his ongoing search for meaning, value, satisfaction, true pleasure, and spirit. Those of us who have been torn between two loves, in this case, the love of our own country and that of some foreign land, will find validation in Professor Christensen's self-disclosure and exploration of his ambivalence, which he did not allow to interfere with his family's choice to make France their home, while honoring that choice and his commitment to teaching at his Texas university. As a frequent visitor to Provence and to the area in which Professor Christensen and his family made their home, my own senses and memories were stirred--the sights, sounds, aromas, tastes, and grace of my favorite place to nurture my soul. If you have not shared this experience yet, you just may want to, if you read this inspiring book.

A marvelous book that is equally beautiful and well-written.

As impossible as it seems to say something new about Picasso, Staller manages not only that, but to summon up the entire ethos that surrounded and created him. An astonishing and beautiful book.

Dr. Staller combined resolute scholarship with poetic exposition. She produced an astonishing enlargement of Picasso's "world of veils and fragments."

The organization of this book is striking. Although it starts with Picasso's childhood in Malaga and ends a few years after his arrival in Paris, it's anything but a chronological biography of Picasso's early years. The theme of each chapter is some class of cultural artifacts or fads -- mainly from popular culture -- that influenced Picasso in the years through his Cubist period. As a result, the narrative skips around while also having a general sense of forward motion: very appropriately, a Cubist sense of time.

The range of things described is incredibly broad. It includes popular religious objects, newspaper ads, academic history painting, fads for Esperanto and similar artifical languages, "the language of parasols" (which Spanish ladies learned from color trading cards enclosed in packages of chocolates), and numerous sorts of tchotchkes. I especially enjoyed looking at some of Picasso's guitar sculptures in the light of the paper cut-and-fold-up models that were popular when he was a child.

All of this cultural material is fascinating. Still, I wasn't always convinced of strong connections between some items and Picasso's paintings, especially in the first couple of chapters. It seemed to me that there might be alternative explanations for some features of his paintings, or at least that the case presented was occasionally a bit sketchy.

Nonetheless, the last several chapters are a great tour de force. Among the highlights are analyses of some of Picasso's collages. The bits of newspaper that Picasso used, and where he chose to snip them, weren't at all chosen at random. What's especially interesting is that some of them were chosen because of the stories or ads adjacent to, or on the reverse of, the cuttings he used, even though these aren't visible in the artwork.

The scholarship necessary to track down all these connections is mind-boggling. It's easy to understand why this book was more than 20 years in the making. The writing style, though isn't at all academic --and at times is quite earthy in ways I'm sure Picasso would have approved.

I was also impressed by the book's compassionate treatment (appropriately and unavoidably mixed with some bathos) of Picasso's father, a failed academic painter whose specialty was realistic paintings of pigeons. Most of all, the book is a great confirmation of Picasso's fundamentally comic sensibility. That makes the book a pleasure to read all the way through.

If you are familiar with other Cadogan guides, this is a little bit of a departure from the usual style, but just as recommendable.

This book contains a wealth of information for parents, and older kids, planning their trip to Paris. There are sections on the main tourist areas of he city, eg the Latin Quarter, which include the attractions most likely to appeal to children (never neglecting the `Big Sites'), including museums, and especially parks and playgrounds, shopping relevant to kids, and best of all, family friendly eating places in each quarter, including opening hours, an indication of price, and some specialties/type of fare.

There are sections on entertainment, sports and activities, shopping, eating and sleeping. One useful chapter is on `Themed' days out - eg On the trail of the French Revolution, Paris from below, Paris from above - always with food stop suggestions.

The latter part of the book is devoted to Disneyland Paris, which provides comprehensive information if you are planning to visit there.

One negative: the maps aren't all that useful for actual navigation. They do give an indication of the relative location of different places of interest in each geographical area, and show metro locations so are useful for planning your itinerary. But the streets are not named and you may need an accompanying, more comprehensive map.

No hesitation about recommending this book, and I am using it in conjunction with Fodor's Around Paris With Kids (reviewed elsewhere).

Just what I needed when I went touring Paris with my kids. On the ball information delivered with authority and in a way that makes me feel sure the author is in the same boat as me - regularly desperate to find a loo, ice-cream, whatever - trying to please my brood but get to know more about the city myself and have as good a time too. Nice work. Any more kid's city guides welcome!

This is great guide! I lived in the Paris area as an adult, but dreaded returning as a family to this exquisite city. My fears couldn't have been more misplaced. With this guide in hand, I found many things for young children to do. The guide doesn't pull any punches, e.g., it tells you which restrooms will be out of toilet paper, how long queues will be, whether at Berthillon or EuroDisney. I can't find one area where the guide falls short. Approximately ¼ of the guide is devoted to EuroDisney. With this guide in hand though, Paris would be fine place for kids, even without a visit to EuroDisney. Nonetheless, the EuroDisney section is detailed and well done. The page with The Best of Paris for Kids in 19 different categories is alone worth the purchase price. Elsewhere in the guide, most all of your questions will be answered, from where to sleep, eat, and shop, to how to plan days for all seasons of the year, indoors or out, for older or younger children. Hours of operation, addresses, phone numbers, transport tips are included for various destinations. I haven't found a better guide so focussed on taking children to Paris than this one yet. So if you're thinking about a family vacation there, get this guide, and enjoy your trip!

While this book covers all the bases for a trip to Paris with children, I found the most useful section to be the extended chapters on Disneyland-Paris. The Disneyland park is huge (1/5th the size of Paris) and this guide helped us quickly prioritize where to go and what to do based on the ages and interests of our children.