Jacksonville Public Library

Versailles, Colin Jones

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-194) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Versailles

bibliography

1028521165

Colin Jones

"Nothing represents the turbulent and inspiring history of Franch 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 detroyed outright? Historian Colin Jones 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 Revoultion to its rediscovered vocation as a site of memory recalling France's former cultural hegemony. This is the story of creation, renovation, and enduring legacy of the most famous building in France: a building complex of mythical status and a spce of royal and aristocratic pleasures that has become one of the world's greatest tourist destinations."--From page 2 of cover