Graham Robb's Paris Adventures

Historian-adventurer Graham Robb takes us to the back stories, back streets, and the people of Paris.

Think Paris and you may think Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, little cafés, the Seine.

Graham Robb thinks people. Parisians.

Robb has written award-winning biographies of Balzac, Victor Hugo, Rimbaud. Now, he’s plumbing Paris through the lives of greats and denizens.

The young Napoleon on his first fling in the city. Proust on the Metro. Hitler at dawn at the Arc de Triomphe. Miles Davis in love. Marie Antoinette, lost on the Left Bank.

This Hour, On Point: Graham Robb on getting to know Paris, through Parisians.

Guest:

Graham Robb, historian and author. His new book is "Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris." You can read an excerpt. His biographies of Balzac, Victor Hugo and Rimbaud were selected as the New York Times' Editors’ Choice for best books of the year. His previous book was "The Discovery of France."