Making Monte Carlo: A History of Speculation and Spectacle

Here’s what people are saying about MAKING MONTE CARLO:

Monte Carlo is a place that lives at the edge of our collective imagination: the locus of sensational daring and spectacular wealth. Mark Braude’s fluent, detailed account puts flesh on those bones, revealing a largely overlooked history as capacious and dramatic as a nineteenth-century thriller. – Luc Sante

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Vivid, detailed…entertaining history. – Wall Street Journal 

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Braude’s well-researched and deftly written history whisks the reader through Monte Carlo’s colorful past. –Washington Post

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[A] stirring account…Braude’s fluent and fast-paced writing style is ideally suited to his subject matter, which is all about vision, speed of thought and execution. – Financial Times

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It was a wily Frenchman — and former cardsharp — who understood that by giving gambling an aura of class, royalty, millionaires and any number of fools could be persuaded to part with their money…Clearly, when it comes to Monte Carlo, there is never “no more bets.” – New York Times Book Review

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I devoured Stanford historian Mark Braude’s new book. – Globe and Mail

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[A] fascinating new book…dazzling cameos from a rich cast of characters. – San Jose Mercury News

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Braude tells how a Victorian-era gambling impresario transformed a sleepy village in resource-free Monaco into a glittering, casino-filled playground for the rich and famous — long before Las Vegas was even a dream. – New York Post, ‘This Week’s Must-Read Books’

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An engrossing examination…Braude admirably balances the political machinations with the glamorous aspects of Monte Carlo. – Publishers Weekly

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Full of great adventures and adventurers, schemes grand and small, and always money, lost and gained and lost again. Braude knows Monaco well and brings it to glamorous life…impeccable research and sparkling prose. – Booklist

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[A] fascinating book…absorbing narrative… firm grounding of anecdote, fact and interpretation in impeccable sources…pulsates with [delights]. – Washington Times

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Charts the history of how the city developed from the first casino resort in the 19th century to the epitome of cosmopolitan cool. – The National (UAE), ‘Top Books of the Week’

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A well-researched, dramatic rags-to-riches urban tale. – Kirkus Reviews

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Excellent…The primary pleasure in Making Monte Carlo comes from watching the various eccentrics, lowlifes, high-rollers, and famous artists stroll in to take a seat at the table. – The Millions

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[An] intriguing look at the creation of Monte Carlo through the people and their stories, sometimes true and sometimes exaggerated, which helped make the place what it is today. – Library Journal

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“A delicious dive into how and why this tiny rock on the Med turned itself into the archetypal sunny place for shady people.” – Robb Report, ‘Summer Reads’

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Part thriller, part historical narrative, Braude’s tale is a must-read for anyone interested in money, power and scandal, which is just about any of us. Writing with breezy prose and authoritative research, Braude delves into the seedy world behind Monte Carlo’s glitter with gusto.  -Mary Pilon, bestselling author of The Monopolists

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In Making Monte Carlo, Braude masterfully tells the story of how princes, profit-seekers, and press agents created luxurious Monte Carlo in resource-poor Monaco . Making expert use of source material, he builds a highly readable, engaging narrative…a compelling, enlightening read. – David G. Schwartz, author of Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling

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Braude’s deftly written Making Monte Carlo is social and cultural history at its best. Above all, it is an object lesson in the modern art of promotion. Contrary to Sam Spade, Braude demonstrates that nothing quite pays off like the stuff that dreams are made of. -Kenneth E. Silver, author of Making Paradise: Art, Modernity, and the Myth of the French Riviera