
Episode 3
Emile and Alexandrine Zola and other literary luminaries scale the gleaming Eiffel Tower for lunch. Narrated by Stephen Boxer.
"The idea was to create a kind of mini Human Comedy of Paris, in which the history of the city would be illumined by the real experiences of its inhabitants."
So says the author Graham Robb about his new book 'Parisians'. And a whole host of characters walk, scuttle jump, run and flounce across his pages, beginning with the French Revolution and ending in more current times. These inhabitants are natives and visitors, and it is the likes of Charles Axel Guillaumot, Marie Antoinette, Alexandrine Zola, Adolf Hitler and Charles de Gaulle who lighten and darken the city's streets
in five episodes for BOOK OF THE WEEK. The series narrator is Stephen Boxer.
In today's episode, Emile and Alexandrine Zola ascend the new Eiffel Tower, before later
revelations change their lives forever. Reader Stephen Boxer.
Last on
More episodes
Broadcasts
- Wed 7 Apr 201009:45BBC Radio 4 FM
- Thu 8 Apr 201000:30BBC Radio 4
- Wed 11 Mar 201514:45BBC Radio 4 Extra
- Thu 12 Mar 201500:45BBC Radio 4 Extra





