Research Catalog

Title

Versailles / Colin Jones.

Author

Jones, Colin, 1947-

Publication

• New York : Basic Books, 2018.
• ©2018

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

vii, 211 pages : illustrations; 20 cm

Summary

Nothing represents the turbulent and inspiring history of France quite like the Palace of Versailles. Made famous by the absolutist king Louis XIV, Versailles became legendary for its aristocratic and cultural splendors, but 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 palace and grounds - should the site be memorialized, rehabilitated, or even destroyed outright? Distinguished historian Colin Jones masterfully traces the evolution of Versailles from its origins as an early seventeenth-century hunting lodge to the focal point of the opulent Louis XIV's centralized power, and from the palace's variegated fortunes under Revolution to its rediscovered vocation as a site of memory recalling France's former cultural gegemony. This is the vivid story of the creation, renovation, and enduring legacy of the most famous building in France: a building complex of mythical status and a space of royal and aristocratic pleasures that has become one of the world's greatest tourist destinations. Tracking the evolution of Versailles as a building and as a political space in compelling prose, this book is a must-read for any Francophile. -- From dust jacket.

Subjects

• Château de Versailles (Versailles, France) History
• ARCHITECTURE / History / Baroque & Rococo
• HISTORY / Europe / France
• Informational works
• Château de Versailles (Versailles, France)
• Château de Versailles (Versailles, France) Design and construction
• History
• HISTORY / Modern / 17th Century

Genre/Form

• Informational works.
• History.

Bibliography (note)

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

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.

Call Number

JFC 20-52

ISBN

• 9781541673380
• 1541673387

LCCN

2018466215

OCLC

1028521165

Author

Jones, Colin, 1947- author.

Title

Versailles / Colin Jones.

Publisher

New York : Basic Books, 2018.

Copyright Date

©2018

Edition

First U.S. edition.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Creator/Contributor Characteristics

Occupation/field of activity group: University and college faculty members

Occupation/field of activity group: Historians

Bibliography

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

Local Note

PUB. ALSO IN UK.

Research Call Number

JFC 20-52