Why read The Age of Comfort?

Book cover of The Age of Comfort: When Paris Discovered Casual - and the Modern Home Began

Book description

A critically acclaimed historian of France and French culture identifies the moment in modern history when informality and comfort first became priorities, causing a sudden transformation in the worlds of architecture and interior decoration that would last for centuries.

Today it is difficult to imagine a living room without a…

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France
Paris

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Age of Comfort as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Katrina Lawrence

Author

Paris has long been a city of creation—but also a city of people who have made these creations their own. Perhaps this is why Paris influences the world; it sells so much more than products; it sells a lifestyle. Francophile and Professor Joan DeJean has written numerous books on French culture, but this is a particular favourite of mine. Head-spinningly well-researched, The Age of Comfort looks at how Paris architects and designers, from the late-seventeenth to late-eighteenth centuries, created the concept of a private life, and all the necessary accompanying interior-design components, from sofas to toilets to baths to…

From Katrina's list on The best books about the history of Paris (and Parisians).