France Books

"The life and shocking story of the icon who danced her way to fame and infamy in Paris."

I used this book for a class I taught about Josephine Baker. The images collected here give such a good representation of Ms. Baker's life, and the three long essays in the book helped me understand her better. I would love to see this exhibition personally, but since I can't do that the book makes a good substitute. La Baker was quite a woman!

Incidentally the recently released DVDs of her movies are interesting too.

The life of Josephine Baker is one of the most incredible success stories in American history. Born into a poor but vibrant district of St. Louis, as a child she took her first steps toward becoming an incredible dancer by dancing in the streets for pennies. At age 13, she ran away to join a traveling road show, and at age 16 was the star dancer of a show that toured the country. She moved to Paris to join a musical review called La Revue Négre. So great was her success that, at age 20, she was the toast of Paris, and soon after, the toast of all Europe.
Ernest Hemingway said of her "(she is) ...the most sensational woman anybody ever saw. Or ever will. Tall, coffee skin, ebony eyes, legs of paradise, and a smile to end all smiles." Baker even took lessons in dancing from the great ballet master Balanchine who, as it turned out, learned more from her than she from him!
Josephine Baker, Image and Icon is a tribute to this incredible African-American who had little or no formal education, but earned her place in history through sweat and perseverance and an incredible talent. It is a book made beautiful by the images of Baker herself, as shown by original theatrical posters, photographs, drawings, prints and paintings of Baker made by some of the most celebrated artists of the period. The book is a rich profusion of color and movement, much like the dancing for which Baker was celebrated.
The book had its origin in the mind of the Director of the Sheldon Art Galleries in St. Louis, Olivia Lahs-Gonzales. After two years of searching for art and ephemera that would best show the life and times of Baker, Gonzales mounted an exhibition at the Sheldon Art Galleries by the same name, with exhibits drawn from collections public and private across the United States and Europe.* The book itself was the natural outcome of what was shown at the gallery.
In the book, Josephine Baker and her life and times is further defined by three scholarly and highly readable treatises. Bennetta Jules-Rosette, the author of "Two Loves: Josephine Baker in Art and Life," writes of the inventing of the image of Baker and the preserving of her as an icon. Olivia Lahs-Gonzales offers a commentary on Baker in the context of the modern woman. Tyler Stovall, author of "Paris Noir, African-Americans in the City of Light," describes Paris and the Jazz Age, and the place of Baker in the black Montmartre.
Baker not only danced and sang her way into the hearts of Paris, Europe and the world, but capitalized on her fame by taking on other tasks, such as combating racism in all its aspects. She adopted 12 children of all races and religions--her "rainbow tribe"-- and installed them in an immense French chateau. And, most incredibly, she took on the dangerous role of a courier in the French underground during the Nazi occupation, for which she received the French Légion d'Honneur.
If there ever was a book that defined and embodied its subject in its pages, it is Josephine Baker in Art and Life. It is a book that belongs in the library of everyone who loves Americana in its finest manifestation.

*The exhibition has now moved on to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, where it remains until March 18, 2007

Laura Ingalls Wilder watch out! Frances Bennett has picked up where your family left off. In the late 1890's, the Stegall family traveled with a caravan of covered wagons ... from North Carolina to Southern Arkansas. They settled on some land that the family still owns today. "The Journey" describes in beautiful and sometimes frightening words the adventures, pain and suffering, and ultimate joy the family experienced over the following decades. Frances Bennett has brought The Journey to life with her exceptional storytelling skills.
Thank you, Frances Bennett.

This is a wonderful story of how a young couple from North Carolina traveled by covered wagon in 1899 to the southern Arkansas wilderness and established their homestead near the Ouachita River. Based on facts revealed during childhood to the author by her grandmother, Bennett weaves an intriguing fictional account of how the Stegall family made the journey and then contributed to the settling of this area. Adventure, curiosity, bravery, work, patience, endurance, pride, loyality, integrity, friendship, community, family, love, longing, hope, sorrow, disappointments, and joy are just some of the words that came to mind as I read this compelling novel. This book is a wonderful way to learn not only the day to day life of our pioneering families, but is a study in the character and characteristics of this hardy breed of people who came west years ago and established the rural communities that are now a part of the history of America.

This is an enriching book that is also ideal for younger readers curious about how communities came into existence in more primitive times.

"The Journey" is one of the most interesting books I have read in a long time. When I received the book I began reading and could not put it down until I finished it. This book is fiction but based on real life information the author got by questions she asked her grandmother. Imagine traveling all the way from North Carolina in a covered wagon to homestead in Southern Arkansas. The book is full of the dangers that were incurred, but also the joys of traveling in a wagon train.

I wish I had asked my ancestors about their early lives, and I'm glad Frances did. It was just a few generations back that our forebears lived as described in the book. This book was a joy to read and you will find it great reading.

Brent Patterson

After a brief overview of the "oldest art in the world" and a discussion of the caveats associated with the term `art' as applied to extinct cultures Bahn describes the problem of taphonomy where knowledge of another older culture is shaped by the survival of artifacts. He also discusses the problem of controlled and limited access to ancient sites, as well as the use of modern photography to capture and transmit information about these sites to a larger audience.

Next, Bahn discusses different kinds of ice age art, which he categorizes as: 1) parietal art which takes the form of wall paintings and sculptures, floor tiles, and other large relatively immovable blocks of stone on which "signs" have been worked. Wall art can be incised, sculpted (additive or subtractive), or painted. 2) portable art which takes the form of figurines, musical instruments, tools, weapons, pottery, and other items that could be easily carried. Surviving portable items are generally made of ivory, bone, or ceramic clay or some other relatively durable inorganic substance.

Bahn then describes how analysts attempt to date ice age material. At one time, scientists believed ice age art could not be dated because it was either inorganic or the methods available for dating organic material were clumsy and destructive. Recent improvements in dating techniques have changed that. For example, charcoal (an organic substance) was frequently used by ice age artists to create the black outlines seen in many wall paintings. For years, scientists thought the black paint was manganese dioxide, an inorganic substance. Since only a pinprick of paint is now required for radio carbon analysis, scientists have been able to test the black paint, discover it was carbon based, and date it.

The book is filled with wonderful technical material as well as plenty of stylistic and other material of interest to art historians. I most appreciated the section that reviewed the various theories about "Why" ice age art was created. Was it art for art's sake? Was it the work of hunters practicing sympathetic magic? Was it a fertility ritual? Bahn pretty much dismisses these theories with practical observations about their shortcomings. What he does not dismiss is the creation of the ice age art for mythical purposes associated with healing rituals. Parietal ice age art is located inside dark passages near water. Often this water derives from warm springs. Sometimes the water flows from dark passages into the daylight. Often, mysterious markings that correspond to the seasons and the moon can be found at the entryways to cave chambers. Does this circumstantial evidence point to ritual undertakings that involved a Mother Goddess?

I wasn't sure whether this book or "Prehistoric Art: The Symbolic Journey of Humankind" by Randall White would be better, so I bought them both.

It turns out that they are both excellent books. Both are loaded with color photographs of artifacts famous and less well-known. Both have scholarly, informative text, considering anthropological and historical contexts, the techniques and materials used by the artists, the history of the study of prehistoric art, and plenty of cautious speculation about the functions the art had to its artists' communities.

They are organized quite differently: Bahn's moves from topic to topic: chapter 7 is on portable art, chapter 8 on rock shelters and cave art, chapter 9 on outdoors art, and so on. But White's book has a regional arrangement: chapter 4 is on Western Europe, chapter 5 is on Central and Eastern Europe and Sibera, chapter 6 is on Africa, the Near East and Anatolia, and so on.

Obviously you can see that White's book has more of a global focus than Bahn's. In fact, Bahn's third chapter deals with prehistoric art outside of Europe; in every other chapter he focuses on European art, especially the caves.

Although Bahn's book devotes a chapter to "Portable Art" such as jewelry and miniature statues (including the famous "Venus figurines"), White's book has a far superior coverage. On the other hand, Bahn has better coverage of interesting issues such as how to reproduce prehistoric art for public enjoyment, dating issues, and forgeries.

If you are primarily interested in European cave art and will be content with a glance at the rest of the world, then Bahn's book is better for you. Personally, although Bahn deals with some interesting issues that White neglects, ultimately I prefer White's global perspective; further, I appreciate his introductory comments about modern Western art and cultural assumptions, and consideration of what might be universal in human art.

Incidently, when it comes to books about art, for some reason I prefer hardcover to paperback; and at this time White's book in hardcover is available at great discount on Amazon, making it almost as inexpensive as Bahn's.

So, my preference is clear. However, I want to emphasize that despite my partiality to White's book, they are certainly both excellent, and I do not think one of them is clearly, inherently better than the other. It just depends on what you are looking for.

As an artist whose work is inspired by the cave paintings of Lascaux, I am always on the lookout for new books about the prehistoric cave art of Europe. This book is a delightful addition to my collection. I should caution that I approach books like this strictly from a layman's and artist's point of view, as I have a limited background in archeology.

Before I read this book, I'd always considered the cave art of Lascaux as the "birthplace of human art" (which was how it was presented in most of my art history courses at school.) Now I realize that the artists of that period are actually almost exactly halfway, timewise, between the earliest evidence of prehistoric art, and the art of today. Each new discovery of prehistoric cave art seems to push back the "birthdate" of human art a few tens of thousands of years.

Rather than focusing on a single cave site, this book is a more comprehensive treatment of Ice age art, discussing caves across Europe, with references to caves in Russia and China. It presents a more complete treatment of all aspects of these caves, discussing anthropological characteristics of the people who created the art, similarities and differences in the artwork, theories about their signicance(mostly debunked here), forgeries, history of the caves' discovery, etc. The photographs are excellent, and many are of paintings and objects I've never seen before. The writing, though comprehensive, is also entertaining and engaging, a good read. I enjoyed this book immensely.

This book is unique to me for several reasons. First, the wonderful photographs not only feature the more widely known paintings inside the caves (referred to in the book as "parietal art" or wall art), but also the artifacts found in conjunction with the paintings--"portable art". I found more photographs of such objects than in any other book I've read. Many are of artifacts I've never read about before.

Also, almost every possible theory ever presented to explain these paintings and artifacts is examined--and most of them debunked. Somehow, this is reassuring to me as an artist--although it would be exciting to understand more about the purpose of the art, it is also satisfying to realize that there is still no encompassing theory about why these amazing paintings and artifacts were created. Their mystery is still profound, intact and untouched. The various theories and conjecture throughout the years about these caves, argues the author, clearly reveals more about US, as modern people, than it does about the cultures that created the cave art. We overlay our desires, prejudices and blind spots onto the art, and for the last 150 years, observers have tended to "find" what they are looking for in the paintings.

There is a whole chapter devoted to fakes and forgeries of Ice Age art, a subject I find fascinating. My favorite phrase in this chapter is a caption of a photograph (p. 81)"...the dot and plantlike sign near the dreadful hand stencil appeared after the first photographs were taken."

In summary, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in archeology, cave paintings, art history, and art.

If you have a background in French critical theory, arising from the 1970's, this book will be a totally fascinating one. If not...you may be baffled, find the book not what you expected, and get angry that you've spent this much money on a work you can't understand. Be forewarned. That having been said, Thierry de Duve is one of the most outstanding contemporary art theoriticians writing today. His slant on Duchamp and Duchamp's impact on subsequent modern/contemporary art is without parallel.

What's missing in this marvelous book is a discussion of Kant's Lutheran religious aspect. Most philosophers treat him as a secular philosopher, but he wasn't. The assault on Christianity by the entire left has seemingly eclipsed the fact that all of the great 19th century thinkers were Lutherans: Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, of course, but also Nietzsche (who was raised as a Lutheran and whose seventeen prior generations of father, grandfather, etc., had been Lutheran pastors), Marx raised in a Lutheran household, and so on.

What Duchamp does is knock out the otherworldly purposiveness that Kant claimed for art. Thierry de Duve aborts the seriousness of his discussion by neglecting the theological dimension of Kant's inquiry.

However, this is still a great book albeit a limited one, as he could have gone further to the heart of the culture wars by contrasting the Sadean nature of the surrealist enterprise with the Christian nature of the Kantian.

A difficult question posed and a difficult answer given. In struggling with two of the most influential personnas in our culture, De Duve does himself, and aesthetics good. Long and convoluted (to the extreme of working out a symbolic logic of Duchamp?) this is nonetheless a great book

A well reasearched novel that made me interested in reading more about the time period and subjects in this book. Not a cheesy romance novel as title and cover may suggest. You have to use a bit of your brain but I found the story quite fulfilling and am glad I read it. I felt like I learned something.

This book is like no other I have read. It entwines history with spirituality and is so accurately researched one might wonder why it wasn't used in history class. This book has changed my life! It has given me a whole new outlook on everything and everyone. I am planning my journey to France, which will no doubt be a life-changing experience! The gilt-edged paperback cover might throw some readers off as to the content, but don't let that stop you. This is no typical romance novel. This book is a true heart-gripping historical masterpiece from the first page until the very last, and will have you thinking about it for a very long time afterwards!

Look past the ditzy title of this novel and you'll find a painstakingly-researched, lovingly-detailed , fast-paced tale of a kingdom saved by a female warrior. I took this book with me on holiday and stayed cooped up in the hotel finishing it rather than go sightseeing. Yes, it's that involving. The book even launched me on a Joan of Arc pilgrimage to Rouen. Take the conspiracy theories with a grain of salt, have an unsurpassed read, and emerge to impress your friends with random details about 15th century France

I like the Knopf Guides in general for their luxurious illustrations, diagrams and their tangental information.In this guide such things as typical menus, historical data, elaborate diagrams (such as the fold out of Train Bleu) and literary references make it more than a guide indeed it properly sits on the nightstand as grist for exciting dreams of historical Parisian Gastronomy.

If you read my review of the general Paris book, you know that I think it is the best, but the restaraunt/hotel information in the back of that book is dated, well here is the fix for that. Unfortunately I only had this book on one trip, my last, over the pond, however if you wanted to have dinner at a new and fascinating place every afternoon and night, this is what to use. My mom, an art deco fan, used this book to find the perfect restaraunt. I used it to find a restaraunt built into a 1000 year old basement, not to mention fois gras vendors! This book is worth every penny, as so much in Paris revolves around meals, and the meals and folks in the restaraunts are so interesting, you in fact, need this book. While large portions of France have lost their Catholicism, they still have one universal religion: FOOD! Pick this book up, a Bible!

Richly illustrated book including descriptions of famous restaraunts as well as the history of the Paris restaurant scene.

I am leaving for France again this week and I can hardly put the book down.

Violette Leduc invented her own poetics of solitude. Her writings are the ravings of a mad schoolgirl, feverishly and sensually neurotic, and achingly romantic. As unhappy as Violette claims to be, you want to be her, to have her heights of perception, and to desire as intensely as she does. If you like it light and breezy, skip this writer. But if you like to take that queasy peek behind the mask, this is for you.

Despite all of the desire that flows in and out of these pages, La Batarde does not gratify. Leduc refuses to stoop to pander to panting hearts - she simply gives you words of poetry to describe her ugliness, her love affairs, small joys and solitude. And yet, she is not all poetry. She is experimental, and is relentless is driving forth her need to tell you about what a horrible being she is - and yet in the end, you find that you feel not only sympathy but a aching heart when she falls and rises again.
From her childhood trials in provincial France, to her affairs with her classmate Isabelle and her teacher Hermine, to her forced departure to Paris (for being found out with her affairs with the music teacher), to her discovery of Gabriel, to her abortions and black-market activity during World War II, the character that Violette portrays herself is no saint, but in refusing to give herself some pride she emerges as a martyr - of fate (being born with, as she says, an ugly nose). There is no question about her ugliness - even de Beauvoir is reputed to have made fun of her behind her back. Yet this woman must have had charisma, for designers gave her clothign to wear and show off on the streets. A contradiction, this woman was, and this quality of hers is very much shown to the reader in her autobiography.

From her early beginnings with a distant mother to her activities during World War II in the black market, Violette Leduc opens her life to us in stark detail. On her journey to find her voice and become a writer, she experiences life to its fullest and darkest extents. From her love affairs with women to her failed marriage to her adoration of a gay man, she explores her seemingly tragic life to show us the beauty in every molecule of life. Definitely not a slow read, this memoir proves Leduc's mastery of expression and whets the reader's appetite for more self-spelunking.

Ever since I read it in my language's translation (Romanian), I longed for the original. Finally bought it in the children section of a french bookstore; Pergaud is a terrific writer and his charming french spices up the story-telling. I felt that the translations (both Romanian and English) lost a little of the rustic feeling.

I see that this print uses "francais facile", which I suppose means removing the flavorful patois and may be OK if it's for small children. However, if it's for you and you can, get the un-abridged version, you'll enjoy it so much more.

Two Irish groups of young boys are going to war, not for gold, or land, for pride. No booty is taken in this war just buttons.Who wins? How? It is a wonderful well written book.

The War of the Buttons is generally considered a book for children but the truth is that it is also a book for adults. Anyone who likes to remember what it was like to be young, free and get excited over the samllest thing should read this. The story is an allegory of war and makes very obvious how ridiculous human beings can be and how unnecessary wars are.

Beautifully written with incredible expressive slang worthy of every teenager.

I've been wanting to build model of Eiffel Tower for about 20 years. I've been drawing the main structure from bits and pieces I was able to collect over the years, and a lot of guess work. Then I came this book, and it was everything I've been looking for. It has all the dimensions and details you need to build an acurate model. It has details of the base of legs, the tower structure, original floor layouts and mechanical plans.
This book is worth every penny, I wish I would of found it 20 years ago.

This is a wonderful reproduction of Gustav Eiffel's original design. Every detail of the Eiffel Tower is represented here. The book is HUGE, though, so make sure you have room for it.

What can you say? You got all the original drawings, the explanations, and also the calculations.
It is amazing the way they did things in the past.
Also if you like history, the book is full of it.
The book is a complete review of all the facts of the Eiffel Tower.
You don't need to be an engineer to enjoy the book, but if you are, I bet you'll enjoy it even more.
The pictures are excellent.

For the last eight years, a group of aviation history enthusiasts in Mexico have done much research about one of Lafayette's pilots: Didier Masson. Dennis Gordon has obtained much more information, both in quality and quantity, that in the end has become an inspiration for our museum project. (And he did 38 times! ...Shame on us!)

Dennis Gordon's comprehensive look at each of the Lafayette Escadrille's 38 pilots, from birth until death, shows what outstanding personal devotion these brave Americans with diverse backgrounds had for a just and honorable cause.Also included is information on influential persons associated with the squadron, personal aircraft markings, memorials,and the lighter side of the pilots wartime lives.

This is the best book on the Lafayette Escadrille. Compiled as separate biographies on every pilot who served with the escadrille, there are also sections devoted to interesting subjects I had always wondered about such as aircraft markings, squadron locations, the lion mascots, fun in paris,etc. Dennis Gordon did a fantastic job on this book. The time and effort it had to take to thoroughly investigate each pilot as well as the history of the squadron must have been monumental. The book is very well written and put together. You can tell it was a labor of love for Mr. Gordon and fans of the Lafayette Escadrille (like me) will never be able to thank him enough.