<DIV><DIV>This remarkable history of late-seventeenth- and early-eighteenth-century France introduces the age when comfort became a new ideal. Home life, formerly characterized by stiff formality, was revolutionized by the simultaneous introduction of the sofa (a radical invitation to recline or converse), the original living rooms, and the very concept of private bedrooms and bathrooms, with far-reaching effects on the way people lived and related to one another. DeJean highlights the revolutionary ideas&#151;and the bold personalities behind them&#151;that fomented change in the home and beyond, providing new insight into the household habits and creature comforts we often take for granted.</DIV></DIV>