Die Nächte von Paris

Night in the then largest city in the world - and eyewitness when the revolution breaks out.A standard work of Paris literature, metropolitan and revolutionary reportage. For twenty years, the "Nocturnal Spectator" Rétif de la Bretonne spent time after sunset exploring what was then the largest city in the world: Paris. In a setting reminiscent of the Thousand and One Nights, he presents the strangest of his experiences and encounters to readers. Grave robbers - Book smuggling in vegetable gardens - The harassed woman - The veined man - Hard-working idlers - The poster tear-off - The secret of the washerwomen - The useful spy - The time killer - The first balloons - Tumult and noise: Even a small selection from the table of contents gives an idea of what a treasure trove of stories and observations has been gathered here. In December 1788, the first twelve volumes of this gigantic work were published, followed by two more in April 1789. At that time, Rétif could already sense how new material was beginning to accumulate in the metropolis, fuel for world history. He was present at the outbreak of the revolution. From the Bastille, a group of revolutionaries with the impaled heads of the last governor of this prison and the mayor of Paris, who was still in office, approached him. Over the next few years, he repeatedly witnesses murder and destruction, phases of happiness and joy, atrocities, massacres, executions - and continues his book.