Preserving the Monarchy: The Comte de Vergennes 1774–1787

by Munro Price

The Comte de Vergennes is best known as one of the great foreign ministers of modern French history, but for much of the 1780s he was also first minister in all but name. This is the first book to deal in depth with the critical part he played in French domestic policies on the eve of the Revolution. His financial reforms, fully examined here, were the last attempt to restructure the monarchy in accordance with its traditional principles. The failure of this undertaking accelerated the final collapse of the royal government. This study is based on important new archival material, as well as on established sources which are often reinterpreted here.

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 26, 1995

About the author

Munro Price is a British historian noted for his award winning work on French history. Price was educated at Cambridge University. For most of his career he has been based at the University of Bradford, where he is currently professor of Modern European History. He has also taught at the University of Swansea and the University of Lyon