The Louvre: The Many Lives of the World's Most Famous Museum by James Gardner is an engrossing and, for me, an eye-opening account of the history of the space we now know as the Louvre.

While I have been twice, I am unfortunately one of those who went strictly to see what is stored inside without any inkling of the rich history of the building itself, not to mention the site as a whole. Gardner does an impressive job of consolidating all of the history into a readable book. This is a history book, not a work of fiction, so it does indeed read as a history book. It is quite engaging and nothing like a textbook though it is detailed. But detailed is different from being textbook-like. If you are hoping for a light read about just the museum itself, you might want to look elsewhere. If you are curious about how what seems to have been little more than a crossroads at one time could become, via a garrison and a palace, the world's most famous museum, you will be delighted with this book.

When I mentioned the writing style a moment ago, I don't mean to imply that it is a light and breezy read, Gardner covers a lot of information and so the writing is definitely geared toward offering information and putting it in context with what came before or will come later. Pretty much by definition that writing will have to have a certain formalism to it. Yet even with those demands, the writing is still straightforward and quite enjoyable.

I recommend this for readers who enjoy history as told through a specific place. Because of the time covered, we get a fair amount of European history here, but only as it applies to the Louvre. I also think anyone who has visited the museum but didn't know the rich history of the location itself will find a lot to enjoy.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )