George Washington's False Teeth: An Unconventional Guide to the Eighteenth Century

Arising out of a project intended to examine Thomas Jefferson's excursions in Paris, this text explores "out-of-the-way corners" of the 18th century focusing on the interrelated themes of "French-American connections, life in the Republic of Letters, modes of communication, and ways of thought peculiar to the French Enlightenment." Darnton (European history, Princeton U.) obliquely refers in his title to the almost ubiquitous prevalence of toothaches at the time, reflecting his belief that by focusing on the ways the period differed from ours, we can come to a greater understanding of its actualities. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Robert Darnton is the Shelby Cullom Davis Professor of European History at Princeton University. His many books include The Forbidden Best-Sellers of Pre-Revolutionary France, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award.