Rupert Christiansen is the opera critic and arts columnist for the Daily Telegraph. His books include Tales of the New Babylon: Paris in the Mid-19th Century and Romantic Affinities: Portraits From an Age 1780-1830. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1997.
'A beautifully produced compact book, written and put together with the rare combination of expertise and love' Engineering and Technology Magazine. '[An] elegant and gorgeously illustrated new book' Sunday Telegraph. 'Vivid, dramatic and tragic ... If you are heading for Paris this summer be sure to put City of Light in your bag' Sunday Times. 'Brisk, vivid and unexpectedly stirring ... No one writes as evocatively and entertainingly about Paris as [Christiansen] does' Mail on Sunday. '[A] sparkling yet scholarly new book' Country Life. 'If anyone could convert me to Haussmann it is Rupert Christiansen. His elegant extended essay is a love letter to a city in architectural revolution. Christiansen writes about the streets he clearly loves with wit and elan. Not a dud sentence. Every page is a pleasure, every building, every gas lamp brought shimmering to life ... Don't board the Eurostar without a copy' The Times.