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Versailles is the most famous royal palace in the western world. Its story is absolutely riveting: high historical drama under the last three kings of France's old regime combined with the high camp of the most glamorous of European courts, all in an iconic setting for the French arts. Versailles itself has been radically altered since 1789, and the court itself was long ago swept away. 'In Search of Versailles' sets out to rediscover what is now a vanished world: a great centre of power, seat of royal government; and for a cast of thousands, also a home, both grand and squalid, bound by social codes almost incomprehensible to us today. Using the latest historical research, the book will probe the conventional picture of Versailles as a 'perpetual house party' of pleasure-loving courtiers and give full weight to the darker side: not just the mounting discomfort of Louis XIV's aging palace but also the ceaseless intrigue and status-anxiety of aristocrats dependent on royal favour for handouts and social recognition. The book will bring out clearly for the first time the fateful consequences for the French monarchy of its relocation to Versailles and the inability of Louis XIV's successor to shoulder the mythic weight of the gargantuan palace. The book will also examine the changing place of Versailles in France's national identity since 1789 and analyse its extraordinary hold on foreigners from George Washington to Nancy Mitford. This will be the first full account in English for over thirty years.
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