Much of the beauty of France lies in its landscape – its lavish lavender fields, rollicking azure oceanfront, and awe-inspiring architecture – but under feudalism these lands came with a hefty price. Tenants were indebted to serve the supreme powers that glowered down at them until the National Assembly put an end to feudalism by renouncing its control. The story behind eighteenth-century France’s vast political restructuring overflows with interesting characters – King Louis XVI, Queen Marie Antoinette, and Napoleon – and events – the Treaty of Versailles, a pact with the United States, and the storming of Bastille.