Includes bibliographical references (p. 613-614) and index.

1. France in 1715: The King's Leg and the Choreography of Power -- a. The Mythic Present of the Sun King -- b. The Bourbon Polity -- c. The King's Nobility -- d. Absolutism under Pressure -- e. The Dreaded Regency -- 2. Negotiating Stormy Weather: The Regency and the Advent of Fleury (1715-26) -- a. Hope beyond Sunset -- b. The Polysynody Experiment -- c. Princes, Dukes and Magistrates: A New Fronde? -- d. The Financial and Economic Context of the Regency -- e. A Scottish Wizard in a Land of Troubles -- f. The Childhood of Louis XV: Six Funerals and a Wedding -- 3. Fleury's France (1726-43) -- a. Hercules on a Tightrope -- b. Tridentine Themes ... -- c. ... and Jansenist Variations -- d. The King's Information: News, Views, Secrets, Lies -- e. The Wilting Cardinal -- 4. Unsuspected Golden Years (1743-56) -- a. Herod 'the Well-Beloved'? -- b. The Balance of Power and the Globalization of Warfare -- c. Flexing the Sinews of War --

d. Vital Signs in Rural France -- e. Health and Wealth by Stealth -- 5. An Enlightening Age -- a. The Moment of the Encyclopedie -- b. Points of Light -- c. Civilised Man, Natural Woman -- d. Re-enchanting a Disenchanted World -- e. The Contested Politics of the Public Sphere -- 6. Forestalling Deluge (1756-70) -- a. Damiens's Epiphany -- b. Things Fall Apart: The Seven Years War -- c. Choiseulian Scapegoats: Devots and Jesuits -- d. The Monarchy Retools -- e. Languages of Patriotism: The Judges Judged -- f. From the Brittany Affair to the Maupeou Revolution -- 7. The Triumvirate and Its Aftermath (1771-84) -- a. Maupeou's Revolution -- b. The Turgot Experiment -- c. Patriotism al'Americaine -- d. The Price of Patriotism -- e. Figaro's Masters -- 8. Bourbon Monarchy on the Rack (1784-8) -- a. Diamonds: Not a Queen's Best Friend -- b. The Appearance of Luxury and the Luxury of Appearances --

c. Silent Revolution in an Age of Noise -- d. The Elusive Public: Financial and Institutional Reform -- 9. Revolution in Political Culture (1789-91) -- a. Imagining the Nation, Fearing the Worst -- b. Summer Lightning -- c. The Task of Political Architecture -- d. Demolition Problems -- 10. War and Terror (1791-5) -- a. Aux Armes, Citoyens! -- b. Louis Capet Bows Out, Terror Bows In -- c. The Glacial Logic of Republican Unity -- d. Killing Robespierre, Ending Terror -- 11. The Unsteady Republic (1795-9) -- a. Shaky Foundations -- b. Revolution: A User's Guide -- c. Economic Fortunes and Misfortunes -- d. Bourgeois Revolutionaries ... -- e. ... and their Other(s) -- Conclusion: The Brumaire Leviathan and la Grande Nation.