The Age of Conversation

By Benedetta Craveri

Book Overview

Now in paperback, an award-winning look at French salons and the women who presided over them In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, between the reign of Louis XIII and the Revolution, French... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590172140
• ISBN13: 9781590172148
• Release Date: August 2006
• Publisher: New York Review of Books
• Length: 508 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.2" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Women of style and words

Thoroughly enjoyed this hundred year plus survey of women who influenced French culture and the world through their skillful handling of men of letters and men of power. It is well-written, not ponderous or academic like many histories. Anyone who is interested in France, nobility, women's history, or the art of living well will find this an intriguing look into the beautiful drawing rooms of Paris. I can think of several friends to whom I would recommend this book. Truly satisfying.

Noble talking

The description on the synopsis of the book provided by the "Book reviews" is fairly accurate. Therefore, I will only point out that the book is no very engaging, but it is not dry either. It can be savoured by the professional historian, and by the educated layperson too. Therefore, my rating is 5 (content) and 3/4 (pleasure). In addition to this work, other books that I would recommend reading would be 1) "Nobilities in Transition 1550-1700 : Courtiers and Rebels in Britain and Europe" by Ronald G. Asch; 2 and 3)"Myths of Power. Norbert Elias and the Early Modern European Court " and "Vienna and Versailles : The Courts of Europe's Dynastic Rivals, 1550-1780 (New Studies in European History)" by Jeroen Duindam (whose books present a more accurate view of monarchy, nobility, the court and the state contrary to that provided by Elias's "The Court Society"); and 4) "The Pleasures of the Imagination: English Culture in the Eighteenth Century" by John Brewer.