Declare Books In Favor Of The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris

Original Title:	The Greater Journey: Americans In Paris
ISBN:	1416571760 (ISBN13: 9781416571766)
Edition Language:	English
Setting:	France
Literary Awards:	Andrew Carnegie Medal Nominee for Nonfiction (2012), Marfield Prize (National Award for Arts Writing) Nominee (2011), Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for History & Biography (2011)

The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris Hardcover | Pages: 558 pages

Be Specific About Containing Books The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris

Title	:	The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris
Author	:	David McCullough
Book Format	:	Hardcover
Book Edition	:	First Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 558 pages
Published	:	May 24th 2011 by Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
Categories	:	History. Nonfiction. Cultural. France. Biography. North American Hi.... American History. Travel

Description During Books The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris

The Greater Journey is the enthralling, inspiring - and until now, untold - story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, architects, and others of high aspiration who set off for Paris in the years between 1830 and 1900, ambitious to excel in their work. After risking the hazardous journey across the Atlantic, these Americans embarked on a greater journey in the City of Light. Most had never left home, never experienced a different culture. None had any guarantee of success. That they achieved so much for themselves and their country profoundly altered American history. As David McCullough writes, "Not all pioneers went west." Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor in America, was one of this intrepid band. Another was Charles Sumner, who enrolled at the Sorbonne because of a burning desire to know more about everything. There he saw black students with the same ambition he had, and when he returned home, he would become the most powerful, unyielding voice for abolition in the U.S. Senate, almost at the cost of his life. Two staunch friends, James Fenimore Cooper and Samuel F. B. Morse, worked unrelentingly every day in Paris, Cooper writing and Morse painting what would be his masterpiece. From something he saw in France, Morse would also bring home his momentous idea for the telegraph. Pianist Louis Moreau Gottschalk from New Orleans launched his spectacular career performing in Paris at age 15. George P. A. Healy, who had almost no money and little education, took the gamble of a lifetime and with no prospects whatsoever in Paris became one of the most celebrated portrait painters of the day. His subjects included Abraham Lincoln. Medical student Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote home of his toil and the exhilaration in "being at the center of things" in what was then the medical capital of the world. From all they learned in Paris, Holmes and his fellow "medicals" were to exert lasting influence on the profession of medicine in the United States. Writers Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain, and Henry James were all "discovering" Paris, marveling at the treasures in the Louvre, or out with the Sunday throngs strolling the city's boulevards and gardens. "At last I have come into a dreamland," wrote Harriet Beecher Stowe, seeking escape from the notoriety Uncle Tom's Cabin had brought her. Almost forgotten today, the heroic American ambassador Elihu Washburne bravely remained at his post through the Franco-Prussian War, the long Siege of Paris and even more atrocious nightmare of the Commune. His vivid account in his diary of the starvation and suffering endured by the people of Paris (drawn on here for the first time) is one readers will never forget. The genius of sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the son of an immigrant shoemaker, and of painters Mary Cassatt and John Singer Sargent, three of the greatest American artists ever, would flourish in Paris, inspired by the examples of brilliant French masters, and by Paris itself. Nearly all of these Americans, whatever their troubles learning French, their spells of homesickness, and their suffering in the raw cold winters by the Seine, spent many of the happiest days and nights of their lives in Paris. McCullough tells this sweeping, fascinating story with power and intimacy, bringing us into the lives of remarkable men and women who, in Saint-Gaudens's phrase, longed "to soar into the blue." The Greater Journey is itself a masterpiece.

Rating Containing Books The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris

Ratings: 3.91 From 17507 Users | 2133 Reviews

Assessment Containing Books The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris

This is the story of Americans who traveled to Paris during the seven final decades of the 19th century. It's a history of the young years of individuals who ended up being famous and important Americans in their later mature years. Generally speaking, many of them were single, affluent individuals (mostly men) in their 20's intent on learning the artistic, scientific, and medical skills of the French who were perceived to be leaders in these fields.I too spent some time traveling in Europe when

Dear Goodreads Community:This is not easy for me to do and I am sorry to have to do this in this forum. I realize it is a bit cowardly and beg your understanding but you need to know it is not you, its mewell, maybe it is you. Yes, over the last four years weve had some good times and I will cherish those books youve recommended through your insightful reviews and ratings. Those were wonderful times and I trusted you then. However, over the past year or so, it seems more and more that youve

Dear Goodreads Community:This is not easy for me to do and I am sorry to have to do this in this forum. I realize it is a bit cowardly and beg your understanding but you need to know it is not you, its mewell, maybe it is you. Yes, over the last four years weve had some good times and I will cherish those books youve recommended through your insightful reviews and ratings. Those were wonderful times and I trusted you then. However, over the past year or so, it seems more and more that youve

I wasn't sure how much I would like this even though I know I like the way David McCullough and his team put together books. I was hesitant because the book focuses on many different individuals, all Americans residing in Paris from the late 1820s through 1900. Would I get adequate depth about each? The answer? Many individuals are mentioned and yet I was interested in so many because of the fascinating information provided. I did not get complete biographies of any, but the book does focus in



I have to sit down with books about France/Paris (and history) in a certain frame of mind. Everyone wants to recommend these to me - and I do like reading them, just not a steady diet. McCullough is favorite writer. He tells a story - and then you realize you've learned something about a subject. In this case, the win was an overlay of American history that put this part of French history into context. The biggest surprise was the history of the Paris Commune. Victor Hugo gives a dramatized

We went to see McCullough 'launch' this latest offering. He's 78 now but still looks and sounds like God. (With apologies to Morgan Freeman and Alanis Morissette, who some people also think look like God). He spoke without a note for over an hour with only a rare misspeak, telling the wonderful stories that he unearthed about 19th Century Americans in Paris. Context: I was always a reader, but McCullough's Path Between the Seas is one of the handful of books that turned me into an addict. And, I