The Greater Journey

I just finished reading David McCullough's latest superb book, The Greater Journey.  I was a skeptic, at first, but the more I read, the more I got into this terrific read of mostly short biographical sketches of various writers, authors, doctors, artists, and public officials who spent time in Paris during the 19th century.  My favorites were Elihu Washbourne and his role as Ambassador to France during the Franco-Prussian War; the tale of Samuel Morse's Gallery of the Louvre (now in DC!); the tales of early medical students; Mary Surratt and her tortured family; Augustus Saint-Gaudens, particularly his wife Gussie and the sculpture process of so many Civil War leaders; Charles Sumner respite to Europe after his stabbing on the floor of Congress; John Singer Sargent's controversial paintings; and well, many, many others.  McCullough is such a gifted writer and I wish it would not be such a long wait til the next one. I really wasn't sure how much I'd get into a book so focused on art, not a great interest of mine, but his way of weaving tales into a larger fabric of 19th Century Paris made me dying to visit. Someday, perhaps...