There can be few more mesmerizing historical narratives than the story
of how the confident monarchy left by Louis XIV in 1715 became the
discredited failure toppled by revolution in 1789. This brilliant new
book is the first in forty years to describe the whole period, from the
last days of the "Sun King" to the wars of Napoleon. In a groundbreaking
work of scholarship, Colin Jones argues that, contrary to popular
belief, the house of Bourbon's downfall was hardly a foregone
conclusion. Producing an illuminating account of a society torn apart
from within, he recounts the saga of how a dynamic French society--the
heart of the Enlightenment--fell prey to the debt and humiliation of its
wars against Britain.