The Flâneur

From 'The Writer and the City Series', in which it aims to commission 'some of the finest writers if our time to reveal the secrets of the city they know best'. White certainly knows his Paris, a city full of charm and incident, but also one stuck in a dream of it own past glories. White is the perfect 'flaneur' - 'a stroller, a loiterer, someone who ambles through a city without apparent purpose but is secretly attuned to the history of the place and in covert search of adventure, aesthetic or erotic.' He is a splendid guide, delivering fascinating insights into the familiar aspects of the City of Light, and intriguing details about the darker corners.