The Heroic City

The Heroic City is a sparkling account of the fate of Paris's public spaces in the years following Nazi occupation and joyful liberation. Countering the traditional narrative that Paris's public landscape became sterile and dehumanized in the 1940s and '50s, Rosemary Wakeman instead finds that the city's streets overflowed with ritual, drama, and spectacle. With frequent strikes and protests, young people and students on parade, North Africans arriving in the capital of the French empire, and radio and television shows broadcast live from the streets, Paris continued to be vital terrain.

Wakeman analyzes the public life of the city from a variety of perspectives. A reemergence of traditional customs led to the return of festivals, street dances, and fun fairs, while violent protests and political marches, the housing crisis, and the struggle over decolonization signaled the political realities of postwar France. The work of urban planners and architects, the output of filmmakers and intellectuals, and the day-to-day experiences of residents from all walks of life come together in this vibrant portrait of a flamboyant and transformative moment in the life of the City of Light.

Rosemary Wakeman is associate professor of history and director of the Urban Studies Program at Fordham University and the author of Modernizing the Provincial City: Toulouse 1945-1975.

"A superb book filled with erudition. The brio of the writing conveys Wakeman's passion for her topic, which is all to the good since Paris is so personal a subject. Wakeman has assembled an impressive amount of information about postwar Paris and has brought it to life with her energetic prose." - David P. Jordan, author of Transforming Paris"