John Elliot (3) (1898–)

This book is a treasure for a devoted student of the French Revolution, in fact and fiction, like myself. I found a copy in the reference stacks of my library years ago, and thought to retrieve it for my visit to Paris in 2008, but it had been weeded from stock, sadly. So I bought myself a copy this year, having already completed a cursory pilgrimage of my own to the main sites covered in Elliot's guide to the Paris of the Revolution.

In the late 1950s, John Elliot, a 'railway man' as he describes himself (actually Chairman of London Transport), embarked on a quest to indulge his own obscure interest in finding landmarks of the Revolution. Armed with a copy of an earlier guide, Lenotre's 'Paris in the Revolution' (translated into English in 1925 - I have already ordered a copy!), plus a very Parisian chauffeur and car, he visited Charlotte Corday's hotel (or tried to), the site of Marat's house (lost, as with many buildings and streets of the old Paris, to Napoleon and Baron Haussman's 1870s redesigning of the city), the site of the Bastille, Danton's statue and the house of Robespierre, the Tuileries, the Temple, the Conciergerie (one of the places I did manage to visit), and of course, the way of the tumbrils, along the rue St Honore. What struck me most was the lack of interest shown by the Parisians he talked to on his travels - the landlady of the hotel where Charlotte Corday stayed told him that the woman he was asking about must have already checked out, and a 'helpful' passerby asked if Marat was a professor at the school of medicine! Hopefully Paris is more prepared to acknowledge history, the good and the bad, today.

Elliot has a friendly, thoughtful way with words, and he brings to life not only the past, but also Paris of the 1950s, which has also changed since the publishing of his book. (A twenty-first century update is needed, if one does not already exist, to record - with photographs - the sites as they are today, such as the fact that number 398 rue St Honore now has a plaque to commemorate Robespierre's time there).

I love this book, from the bright red cover to the quirky illustrations by Peter Roberson within. Elliot is a delightful tour guide through Paris, and I only wish that I had taken a copy with me. Perhaps next time.… (meer)