'Ring gives some nice descriptions of the beautiful pleasure-craft that bobbed about on the azure coast, but he also records the champagne louts' dismay when fibreglass made sailing cheaper.' -- Daily Telegraph 20040612 'Jim Ring's Riviera corrals an array of vignettes of the Cote d'Azur's most famous habitues, from the Romans to the Rolling Stones. ... a stylish and pleasingly gossipy overview of the region's fluctuating fortunes.' -- Book of the Week, Time Out 20040609 'Jim Ring paints its history in vivid strokes, evoking all the glamour and gaudiness you could shake a face-lift at' -- The News (St Albans) 20040625 'There's a nostalgic, period feel to this reverie about the Riviera' -- Saga Magazine 20040801 'Jim Ring explores the rich history of the alluring southern French coast, the setting for a vibrant and escapist culture of intoxicating beauty and splendour' -- Financial Times 20040626 'An entertaining, highly readable mixture of social and cultural history, and it manages to capture the timeless allure of a unique area of the continent' -- Leicester Mercury 20040629 'Entertaining survey ... [Ring] has a fine nose for the telling detail.' -- Sunday Telegraph 20040613 'Ring's tale rattles along merrily with marvellous period anecdotes' -- Jeremy Gates, Liverpool Daily Post 20040724 'A light-hearted and entertaining picture of the region' -- Lloyd's List 20050729 'Highly readable and entertaining' -- Diplomat 20050701 'An amusing read. It is the ideal book to hide your smirk behind on the Promenade des Anglais as yet another roller-blading granny glides past in a leopard-skin thong.' -- Sunday Telegraph 20040613 'Delightful and informative evocation of the Cote d'Azur at various epochs ... [by] its loving chronicler' -- Critic's Choice, Daily Mail 20040612 'A highly readable account ... as an introduction to the Cote d'Azur, it works wonderfully well' -- Traveller magazine 20040801 'An energetic guide ... an entertaining cautionary tale' -- Independent 20040625 'Lively new history ... entertaining' -- Mail on Sunday 20040829 'Ring covers the ground with just enough detail to titillate' -- Sunday Times 20050508 'Ring, I'm glad to say, rises to the Riviera's defence...a highly readable history' -- J G Ballard, The Guardian 20040731 'Enormously entertaining' -- Daily Express 20050722 'Crammed full of fascinating accounts of disgraceful behaviour on the beaches and in the villas of the world's most decadent playground' -- Guardian 20050507

Jim Ring was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, where he was a scholar. His biography of Erskine Childers, author of The Riddle of the Sands, won the Marsh Prize for biography in 1997. It was followed by How the English Made the Alps. A study of Britain's Cold War submariners, We Come Unseen, appeared in 2001. This won the Mountbatten prize. He is married with one daughter and one son, and lives on the North Norfolk coast.