Jones (history, U. of Warwick, UK), writing in a wonderfully engaging style, chronicles the history of France in the 18th century as its contemporaries would ha... » 

Jones (history, U. of Warwick, UK), writing in a wonderfully engaging style, chronicles the history of France in the 18th century as its contemporaries would have seen it, rather than as a prelude to the Revolution. Issues of politics, economics, religion, thought, and international affairs are cons «