Description: This is a perceptive and witty account of upperclass French society through the centuries, showing how the chateaux and manoirs that dot the countryside evolved in concert with their inhabitants to create a way of life admired and emulated throughout Europe.

Quoting liberally from letters and diaries, inventories and books of etiquette, Mark Girouard uses these resources as well as hundreds of illustrations to conjure up the pecking order of the nobility, the language of chivalry, the nobles' quest for privacy and their love of company -- in the salon, in the boudoir, in the garden.

He traces the evolution in taste and decoration that accommodated the waxing and waning of the fortunes of the aristocracy. Materials, plumbing, lighting, healing, water supply, and the design of kitchens, stables, and servant quarters: all were factors in the creation and maintenance ora world that put the labor of many at the service of a few.

Like "Life in the English Country House" and all of Mark Girouard's other books, "Life in the French Country House" is -- no pun intended -- ground-breaking. It is a completely new and consistently lively but realistic approach to an aspect of French history that is endlessly appealing.

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