{"product_id":"a-brief-history-of-bordeaux-ralph-biles-9798248921058","title":"A Brief History of Bordeaux: Wine, War, and 2000 Years of European Commerce in France's Most Beautiful City","description":"\u003cb\u003eWine, water, and 2,000 years of human ambition built Bordeaux. But the real story goes far beyond the guidebooks.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom Eleanor of Aquitaine's marriage that brought 300 years of English rule to the enslaved Africans whose labor built those beautiful limestone buildings, from the tiny aphid that nearly destroyed French wine to the 1960s highway that almost ruined the city, Bordeaux's history is fascinating, complicated, and deeply human.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA Brief History of Bordeaux\u003c\/b\u003e reveals the city tourists never see through compelling character stories: wine merchants and vineyard workers, resistance fighters and collaborators, survivors and victims.\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRigorous about facts.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWritten like a story, not a textbook.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePerfect for wine lovers, history enthusiasts, travelers, and anyone who wants to understand how cities become what they are.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eYou'll discover: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe English Centuries (1152-1453) - Why Bordeaux preferred English kings to French rulers, and how a wine monopoly made the city wealthy while infuriating competitors\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Golden Age Built on Slavery - Specific merchants, specific ships, specific numbers: how the triangular trade funded the Place de la Bourse and why the city now confronts rather than hides this history\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRevolution \u0026amp; Terror - How revolutionary ideals became deadly reality, with 300 executions in the Place Gambetta and wine trade collapse that took decades to recover\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Phylloxera Crisis - The tiny aphid that killed nearly every vine in France and the desperate grafting solution that saved European wine\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTwo World Wars - Occupation wasn't simple: collaboration and resistance, German officers who protected châteaux, and the violent épuration that followed liberation\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eModern Transformations - The 1967 highway disaster that cut the city from its river, the 2003 removal that reconnected it, UNESCO's 2007 designation, and climate change's threat to 2,000 years of winemaking tradition\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003eThe Garonne still flows. The wine still ages. The questions remain.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDiscover the city where glory and horror, beauty and exploitation exist simultaneously in every stone.\u003cbr\u003eScroll up and start reading.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Ralph Biles\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798248921058\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/18\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 176\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.54lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.41d","brand":"Ralph Biles","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48447340544255,"sku":"9798248921058","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_7144ae60-5207-4290-ae38-a89116c8fcb2.jpg?v=1777230449","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/a-brief-history-of-bordeaux-ralph-biles-9798248921058","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}