Versailles
By: Colin Jones
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 2018
Language: eng
Number of pages: 211
ISBN-13: 9781541673380
Subjects: History; Château de Versailles (Versailles, France); Design and construction
Description: "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 destination" --
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-194) and index.
Table of contents: title: Creating: from house of cards to fairy-tale palace; title: Mythologising: the golden era (1682-1715); title: Continuing: the Bourbon successorion (1715-1789); title: Living: styles of Versailles life; title: Republicanising: in search of a new role; title: Conserving: Versailles, curation and heritage.