Napoleon and Josephine: An Improbable Marriage, by Evangeline Bruce (Phoenix, £9.99 in the UK) is a "before and after" book - read it before and after you visit Paris. Although it is focused on herself and himself (in that order), it is a lesson in French history which is essential for the tourist trail. Never again will the Louvre be just the home of the Mona Lisa or the Orangerie merely the hanging-place of Monet's Water Lilies. The book is not a scholarly biography but history told in the most entertaining fashion.

Evangeline Bruce was an authority on French history - wife of David Bruce, the American ambassador to Paris. She died in 1955. This is her only publication. Its only fault is that, once begun, it's impossible to put this marvellous book down.