Haussmann: His Life and Times, and the Making of Modern Paris

In 1853, Napoleon III appointed to the Paris city hall an administrator who had already proved himself in a number of provincial posts, most notably at Bordeaux, and whose name would come to symbolize the modernization of Paris. In barely fifteen years, Baron Haussmann completed the enormous task entrusted to him by the emperor: to transform an unruly capital into a prestigious metropolis. Dozens of building sites were opened in the streets of the capital; thousands of houses were pulled down; wide straight boulevards were cut through the city with blocks of apartments built alongside them; new theatres and churches sprang up along with public gardens; water, sewage, and gas systems were modernized.
Mr. Carmona has exhaustively examined the historical record and has written a superb biography that will be welcomed by all who have savored the avenues, parks, public buildings, monuments, and byways of the City of Light. Haussman will be a treasure too for architects, urban planners, and those readers who are interested in the life of great cities.