The Sun King
by Nancy Mitford
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Book Summary Information
Author: Nancy MitfordEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1995-08-01
ISBN: 0140239677
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Book Reviews of The Sun King
Book Review: A very satisfying book.
Summary: 5 Stars
I greatly enjoyed this book. To start with, it is a nice size and has many many color reproductions of paintings of the people and places... since they were royalty, this is often great art, so the larger size qualifies it as a small art/picture book.
There is, of course, well written, engaging text on the lives of these people and the intertwinings of public and personal history. In this story, we see how the seeds of revolution were sown by moving the royals away from the city, so that two generations later we have people who are completely unfamiliar with real life outside Versailles.
Some will find this confusing and frustrating because so often names were similar or honorific titles overlapped. Person A is called "Monsieur" by person B, but person C calls him "Sir John" and person D calls him by his title, the second Earl of the Whoosie. Do be prepared to flip back and forth to clarify whether is is the Duke of Borne or the Duke of Burne (I just made that name up, but you get the idea), especially when they are married to each other's sister, and every other woman is named Marie Thereses or Anne Marie. All this to say it does require some attentiona and committment from the reader.
The reward is a rich history where personal piques shaped the lives of hundreds, and in many cases, misshaped the lives more than a corset misshapes the body. The writing is often witty but we see enough of their foibles to care about these folks too. Informative and enjoyable.
Summary of The Sun King
This work takes as its subject Louis XIV at Versailles - from the moment he decided to transform his father's hunting lodge into the greatest palace in Europe to his death there 54 years later. It covers the daily life of the king, the court and the government during the period of France's apogee in military power and artistic achievement. The book discusses the plans for and the building of the palace, and the creation of remarkable elaborate works of art with which it was filled. The book reconstructs the course of Louis's love affairs, culminating in his secret marriage to Madame de Maintenon, episodes such as the affair of the poisons, the creation of the School for Girls at Saint-Cyr, Lord Portland's embassy and the marriage of the Duchess of Bourgogne.Historical Books
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