This is hard to give feedback on, mainly because I am just not the right kind of reader for this book. This no doubt a thorough and well researched book, it was full of detail, too much detail for me, I got lost in all the facts fairly early on and it was a little overwhelming. I would recommend this for avid history and/or architecture fans.

When it is snowy and cold outside, superspeed readers like me can read 150 - 200+ pages/hour, so yes, I have read the book … and many more today. LOL

I received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley, the publisher and the author in exchange for an honest review.  

From the publisher, as I do not repeat the contents or story of books in reviews, I let them do it as they do it better than I do 😸.

Some nine million people from all over the world flock to the Louvre each year to enjoy its incomparable art collection. Yet few of them are aware of the remarkable history of that place and of the buildings themselves—a fascinating story that historian James Gardner elegantly chronicles in the first full-length history of the Louvre in English.

More than 7,000 years ago, men and women camped on a spot called le Louvre for reasons unknown; a clay quarry and a vineyard supported a society there in the first centuries AD. A thousand years later, King Philippe Auguste of France constructed a fortress there in 1191, just outside the walls of a city far smaller than the Paris we know today. 

Intended to protect the capital against English soldiers stationed in Normandy, the fortress became a royal residence under Charles V two centuries later, and then the monarchy’s principal residence under the great Renaissance king Francois I in 1546. It remained so until 1682 when Louis XIV moved his entire court to Versailles. Thereafter the fortunes of the Louvre languished until the tumultuous days of the French Revolution when, during the Reign of Terror in 1793, it first opened its doors to display the nation’s treasures. 

Ever since—through the Napoleonic era, the Commune, two World Wars, to the present—the Louvre has been a witness to French history, and expanded to become home to a legendary collection, including such masterpieces as the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, whose often-complicated and mysterious origins form a spectacular narrative that rivals the building’s grand stature.

I have always wanted to visit the Louvre - I know a lot of people hate the IM Pei pyramid on it but I love it as a result of "The Da Vinci Code". I know people flock there to see the Mona Lisa, but I had no idea how small it was and how storied the history of the actual museum was. It was expertly researched and written, but it has a limited audience which does not include the people of my special library. This is a beautiful but pricey book (too pricey for our library given its limited appeal to my readers) - nonetheless, it is a fabulous book for lovers of art and everything Paris. 

As always, I try to find a reason to not rate with stars as I love emojis (outside of their incessant use by "🙏-ed Social Influencer Millennials" on Instagram and Twitter..get a real job, people!) so let's give it 🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨

I voluntarily read this ARC for an honest review - all thoughts and opinions are mine and unbiased

I found this book fascinating.  
I have visited previously for the same reason that most do, to see the Mona Lisa, but found the building fascinating and knew a little of the history of the building but this gives the whole picture.

Lots of fascinating facts and figures and found the whole premise so interesting.  I learned so much 

Well written, so well researched I found this engrossing