The Greater Journey

September 15, 2011

Between 1830 and 1900, a great many American writers, artists, sculptors, physicians, architects, and politicians flocked to Paris in order to reach their potential. For many, this was the seminal experience of their lives and what allowed them to embrace greatness. McCullough brings to awareness little-known histories of some of the most remarkable Americans who traveled to Paris, most of whom returned to this country, bringing their experiences and expertise home with them. Among those featured are Elizabeth Blackwell, Charles Sumner, Samuel Morse, James Fenimore Cooper, Mary Cassatt, and John Singer Sargent, to mention only a few. Edward Herrmann and McCullough provide seamless and steady narration. Recommended for fans of McCullough, those fascinated with Paris, and armchair history lovers. ["Highly recommended and sure to captivate general readers and generalist scholars alike," read the starred review of the New York Times best-selling S. & S. hc, LJ 5/1/11.--Ed.]--Gloria Maxwell, Metropolitan Community Coll.-Penn Valley Lib., Kansas City, MO

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 28, 2011
One of Americaâs most popular historians and a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, McCullough (1776) has hit the historical jackpot. Travelers before the telephone era loved to write letters and journals, and McCullough has turned this avalanche of material into an entertaining chronicle of several dozen 19th-century Americans who went to Paris, an immense, supremely civilized city flowing with ideas, the arts, and elegance, where no one spit tobacco juice or defaced public property. They discovered beautiful clothing, delicious food, the art of dining ("The French dine to gratify, we to appease appetite," wrote John Sanderson). Paris had not only pleasures but professional attractions as well. Artists such as Samuel F.B. Morse, Whistler, Sargent, and Cassatt came to train. At a time when American medical education was fairly primitive, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. and other prospective physicians studied at the Sorbonneâs vast hospitals and lecture hallsâwith tuition free to foreigners. Authors from Cooper to Stowe, Twain, and James sometimes took up residence. McCullough mixes famous and obscure names and delivers capsule biographies of everyone to produce a colorful parade of educated, Victorian-era American travelers and their life-changing experiences in Paris.