Customer Reviews

Old Regime France: 1648-1788 (Short Oxford History of Europe)

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This work is part of a series on France, and part of a series on major European nations. It would seem to be aimed at the undergraduate, yet avoids being pedantic. As an avid armchair historian, I found this work, like the others in the series, to be engaging, highly readable, with only a minimum of the too common judgemental hindsight one finds in current scholarship. While written by multiple authors, each have read the others sections, keeping ommissions and repetitions to a blissful minomum. The introduction and conclusion are written by the primary author, and a useful appendix consisting of maps, chronology, and an indicative "further reading" section. Because of the editorial oversight, it reads as a coherent work. Not strictly a narrative of political events, it provides a much broader feel of what it meant to be living in that period, which I find prefereable over the "and then this happenned" series of linear political and military events.

If you're starting from scratch, I'd recommend perusing a broader survey first, like the The Cambridge Illustrated History of France for overall context first. For those that prefer detailed narratives that read like a novel, pick up Nancy Mitford's The Sun King. Overall, this Goldilocks found this book to be just right!