Publishers Weekly
"Throughout, Miles focuses on artists (Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso) and writers (Katherine Mansfield, James Baldwin), tracing the impact of the gorgeous seaside on their work and on their personal lives. Stuffed with entrancing details, it’s a charming look at a storied region."
The Economist
"Entertaining and comprehensive. Distant conflicts, revolutions and financial crises, as much as the oscillations of Paris fashion, all echoed on the Côte-D’Azur. Dr. Miles chronicles all this with a keen eye for piquant details."
Kirkus Reviews
For a small slice of geography, the French Riviera has cast a long shadow, and it is one of wealth, style, and decadence. Miles has a great time recounting the history of the Riviera, making the book an enjoyable, absorbing read.
Library Journal
"There’s much to learn in this sweeping history that traces the French Riviera from its geological formation through the Belle E´poque, the Roaring Twenties, and both world wars to the present day."
The Wall Street Journal
"Why did they come to the Riviera? Mr. Miles credits an alluring trifecta that persists to this day: natural beauty, man-made entertainment and proximity to prominence. Picasso, Monet and Renoir all painted here. Nietzsche and F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote here. Matisse designed a chapel here, and the dancer Isadora Duncan died here after her scarf tangled in a car’s wheel during an evening ride. Here, of course, is the Côte d’Azur, a slice of southern France that for decades has been host to extravagant creativity and tragedy, grand gestures and bad behavior.”
Town & Country
"The story of how the French Riviera was born a century ago is well-known, but this fascinating account goes back much, much farther than that. Consider this a whirlwind history tour of the region, from its Roman Empire beginnings, to the influx of royals in the Belle Epoque to the Murphy era in the 1920s and beyond, with plenty tales of scandal, corruption, and greed in between.”
Washington Examiner
"In Jonathan Miles’s new, thoroughly engaging book, The Once Upon a Time World, he chronicles the history of the French Riviera, that strip of land and glittering coast that runs from the rust-red rocks of the Esterel Massif to the Italian border."
Booklist
This lively history of the French Riviera is filled with enchanting morsels.”
Financial Times
"He corrals all the all the myths and legends into a bigger-picture mosaic. Miles writes in a rattling from-the-hip fashion, which only adds to the book’s party atmosphere. The French Riviera emerges from this well-researched, enthuasiastically shaped book as a constant temptation."
Town & Country
"The story of how the French Riviera was born a century ago is well-known, but this fascinating account goes back much, much farther than that. Consider this a whirlwind history tour of the region, from its Roman Empire beginnings, to the influx of royals in the Belle Epoque to the Murphy era in the 1920s and beyond, with plenty tales of scandal, corruption, and greed in between.”
The New York Times Book Review
"Jonathan Miles’s Once Upon a Time World is a delightful, dizzying romp through the world’s most glamorous muse: the French Riviera. Reading this breathtaking account of the transformations of the French Riviera over the last two millenniums is like riding shotgun with a racecar driver in the Monaco Grand Prix."
Foreign Policy
"Miles's whirlwind of characters coalesces into a narrative of booms and busts throughout the decades: the highs of the Belle Époque, the Roaring '20s, and the 1950s-when Hollywood stars took the area's glamor to a new level-but also the lows of both World Wars and the Great Depression."
Mail on Sunday
"In this fabulous romp of a book, Jonathan Miles tells the story of how an 80-mile stretch of rocky shoreline became history’s first playground for the rich and famous."
The Daily Mail
"Crammed with hundreds of juicy anecdotes."
The Literary Review
"Entertaining and wide-ranging. Effortlessly readable."
The New York Times Book Review on Jonathan Miles
"To walk the streets of St. Petersburg, Russia, on a clear evening during the white nights of June is one of the world’s more sublime urban experiences. The Paris-based cultural historian Jonathan Miles has set out to write a sweeping account of a metropolis whose tumultuous, bloody past and dazzling cultural heritage mirror that of Russia as a whole."
Financial Times
"He corrals all the all the myths and legends into a bigger-picture mosaic. Miles writes in a rattling from-the-hip fashion, which only adds to the book’s party atmosphere. The French Riviera emerges from this well-researched, enthuasiastically shaped book as a constant temptation."
The Guardian
"Jonathan Miles’s cinematic telling shows how the drama, the absurdity, the splendor and the squalor of the imperial capital all found their way into Russia’s finest novels, operas and paintings. In this compelling account of St Petersburg’s turbulent history, Miles peels back the layers of myth in which the city is swaddled, while never losing sight of its haunting grace."
Book of the Week (London) The Times
"This extraordinary book brings to life an astonishing place. Beautiful prose renders it brutally vivid, [with] delightful style and an acute sense of absurdity."
The Charleston Post and Courier
"A fresh mix of fascinating contrasts and diverse perspectives. More than just a retelling of historical facts."
The American Scholar
"Miles has placed [the shipwreck] into...historical and artistic context. We...hope he writes more books as fine and compelling."
The Sunday Times
"Girls, gambling, and glamour. A phenomenal (and indelicate account of how the Côte d'Azur became a playground for royals, writers, and the super rich."
From the Publisher
Praise for Jonathan Miles
Bloomberg News
"Compulsive, page-turning stuff...a tale that is still, as it was two centuries ago, more disturbing than fiction."
Kirkus Reviews
2023-04-05
For a small slice of geography, the French Riviera has cast a long shadow, and it is one of wealth, style, and decadence.
Miles, the author of a string of well-received books, describes The Once Upon a Time World as “the second volume of an informal trilogy dedicated to phenomenal places created by strangers”; the first was St Petersburg: Three Centuries of Murderous Desire. The Riviera is a strip of land, including the microstate of Monaco, nestled between the azure waters of the Mediterranean and the stunning foothills of the Alps. It was Englishman Lord Brougham who started the show in 1835, with the idea of building a health resort for the well-to-do. The plan was successful, and over time the guest list extended to artists and writers, many of whom liked the sexual freedom available. Picasso, Coco Chanel, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, and Stravinsky spent considerable time there. Even Karl Marx, and later Harpo Marx, put in an appearance. The lush casinos attracted high rollers, and American money and celebrities poured in. The Riviera fared badly during World War II, but there was a resurgence in the 1950s and 1960s, with Hollywood stars leading the way. Grace Kelly married into Monaco royalty, sealing the bond. But the good times could not last. Eventually, overdevelopment turned much of the scenery into concrete, and the area became increasingly known for crime, corruption, and money laundering. Tourism is the main business of the area, but it runs mainly on nostalgia and pleasant weather. Miles suggests that a recovery is possible, but he sounds more hopeful than convincing. Looking back, the long heyday of the Riviera seems like a fantasy story, replete with colorful and unlikely characters. And it’s a story that, perhaps, starts with “once upon a time, there was a beautiful beach….”
Miles obviously has a great time recounting the history of the Riviera, making the book an enjoyable, absorbing read.
