Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Paris 1789: A Guide to Paris on the Eve of the Revolution
Nonfiction
For ages 8 to 10
Kingfisher, 1999 ISBN: 978-0753451830
Imagine being able to travel back in time. With this guide.in your hand you can do just that. Just as one would find in any guide book there are chapters on how find to accommodation, what the sites are and what to expect when you visit them, "food, drink, and shopping," and most important of all there is a "Travel alert." It is this latter section which gives one the definite feel for what it might have been like to be in Paris in 1789. "Visiting a city in the grip of revolution can be dangerous, so be on your guard" the reader is warned.
The familiar, conversational tone created by the author Rachel Wright makes the whole guide book theme even more credible and one truly feels as if one is back in those times, when France was in the grip of great troubles and violence, and when the French Royal family was facing a very dubious future. The events that occurred at the Bastille in July "a few months ago" are briefly mentioned. Readers will find an excellent full color map of Paris in the back of the book which shows all the main sites of interest.
This book is one of several in the "Sightseers: Essential Travel Guides to the Past" series.
