Dominique Kalifa paints vibrant portrait of the Belle Epoque, a period of celebration and insouciance, tirelessly reimagined for over a century.

The Belle Epoque is part of our cultural heritage. But do we really know what the words refer to, much less the many uses we make of them? This book examines the many faces of a period often seen, in France and abroad, as a privileged moment of insouciance and joie de vivre, aesthetic daring and scientific innovation. Tracing representations from memoirs, literature, film, art and history, Dominique Kalifa demonstrates how depictions of that foundational time are actually hopeful memories of a shining, carefree past recalled in dark, uncertain times.