" David McCullough is probably my favorite author, so it pains me to only give this book 3 stars. In reality, it's probably 3.5 stars, and I would had rated it higher if I didn't have such high expectations for McCullough's books. (His books "The Great Bridge" and "Truman" are both in my top five favorite books ever). Having said all that, this was still a very enjoyable and incredibly readable book. The book shares many mini-biographies of Americans who spend time studying, apprenticing, living, working, etc., in Paris during the 19th century. Stories are told of famous painters, sculptors, authors, doctors, thinkers, etc. that were positively influenced by their experiences in Paris. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on the doctors and the advanced (for the time) training they received in France compared to what was available in the States. The chapters on the unsettled political revolts in France were also very interesting, and covered a time period I had not read anything about before. My one critique on this book is that the overall flow of the book was a little choppy. Meaning, there wasn't a solid overall storyline, but rather a collection of short biographical stories, that sometimes did not all fit well together. Still, a very enjoyable book that I enjoyed, but I would recommend several of McCullough's other books as being much better than this one. "
— Spencer, 1/21/2014