"This gorgeously written (and photographed) book is a feast for readers wanting to be swept away this summer... Tracing the captivating history of Paris's world-famous Hotel Ritz, Mazzeo reveals a hotbed of illicit affairs and deadly intrigue, as well as stunning acts of defiance and treachery."
Brad Thor, The Today Show Summer Reads "Stolen art, double agents, a legendary ... Read morebartender passing notes to the resistance: This is a rich, messy history."
Kirkus Reviews "Mazzeo pulls back the heavy curtains of the Ritz in Paris to reveal a steamy world of sex, drugs, partying and political intrigue."
Alan Riding, author of And The Show Went On: Cultural Life in Nazi-Occupied Paris "Mazzeo enthrallingly depicts a hotbed of both the magnificent and the mundane... Readers will enjoy Mazzeo's fascinating collection of secretive, scheming historical characters, all under one elegant roof."
Publishers Weekly "Fiction could not write betrayal, resistance, collaboration, or celebration with more robustness or with a more alluring who's-who of writers, artists, and military powers than history did in this single hotel. "
Booklist "Tilar J. Mazzeo tells the tale of the Hotel Ritz, a landmark so imbued with glamour that it was the only hotel in Paris the Nazis ordered to stay open during the war. The antics at and around it during World War II were often shocking."
New York Post "Must read... Mazzeo artfully transports readers to the Nazi occupation of World War II ... The Hotel on Place Vendome contextualizes the opulence of 1940s Paris, making for a work of history that reads as enticingly as a novel."
Harper's Bazaar "An illuminating history of the intrigue and drama taking place inside its elegant facade... The narrative reads like fiction, with the difference being accurate testimony from well-researched documents and interviews."
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