Americans and the Making of the Riviera – Reviews

“Mr Nelson, well-known for his excellent book, Queen Victoria and the Discovery of the Riviera, here reminds us that Thomas Jefferson visited what became known as the Riviera in the late eighteenth century when the first English patients were going there for their consumption. This is an enjoyable book that reminds us of the role America played in the development of this distinctive and largely pleasant part of France.”

AMB-Côte d’Azur

“This is a story that deserves to be told and it is recounted clearly and with a light touch by a writer well-equipped to disentangle the interlocking lives and life-styles of a large cast.” Martin Hills

“This is an entertaining book about a niche subject, a light way of gathering further intelligence on great American writers and artists with a Francophile penchant.”  Sylvie Wheatley

“Americans were one of the most influential groups in the shaping of tourism on the Riviera in the 2Oth Century, yet their achievements for the economy in the south of France are little documented.”

“The ‘beautiful people’ who gave the Riviera much of its glamour in the heady days before the ’29 Wall Street crash – and left their names on dozens of Riviera streets and squares – are all here; millionaires, heiresses, impecunious geniuses who swam like a little shoal of fish among the rich.”  Michael Taylor

“Nelson has had his head in a lot of books (and his walking boots on) and offers a fascinating account of this aspect of the Riviera’s past.”

“This is a plumcake of a book, full of tasty morsels.” Patrick Middleton