Versailles / Colin Jones.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jones, Colin, 1947- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Château de Versailles (Versailles, France)--History.

Château de Versailles (Versailles, France).

Château de Versailles (Versailles, France)--Design and construction.

History.

Genre:

Nonfiction.

History.

Physical Description:

vii, 211 pages : illustrations ; 20 cm

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Basic Books, 2018.

Summary:

"Nothing represents the glorious and fraught history of France quite like the Palace of Versailles. Made famous by the absolutist king Louis XIV, Versailles became legendary for the splendor of its revels-but then, after the Revolution of 1789, it fell into disrepute as a reminder of royal excess and abuse of power. Subsequent French governments struggled with how to handle the opulent palace and grounds-should the site be memorialized, trivialized, rehabilitated, or even destroyed outright? Drawing on a new wave of recent research, historian Colin Jones masterfully traces the evolution of Versailles as a space of royal politics and aristocratic pleasures, a building of mythic status, and one of the world's great tourist destinations." -- Publisher's description.

Contents:

Creating: from house of cards to fairy-tale palace

Mythologising: the golden era (1682-1715)

Continuing: the Bourbon successorion (1715-1789)

Living: styles of Versailles life

Republicanising: in search of a new role

Conserving: Versailles, curation and heritage.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-194) and index.

ISBN:

1541673387

9781541673380

OCLC:

1028521165