From Publishers Weekly
Animated by well-chosen quotes from diarists of the period and the author's enthusiasm, this biography is as captivating as Secrets of Marie Antoinette and Bernier's other praised works. The life of the Sun King is described with immediacy from his birth in 1638, after an unexpected meeting between his alienated parents. Louis XIV inherited the throne when he was five at his father's death. As regent, his mother, Anne of Austria, and her minister, Cardinal Mazarin, targets of a "great cabal," held onto power precariously, perhaps influencing the young ruler's determination to govern personally, which he did until he died in 1715. The Grand Monarque's reputation still stands on his reign, rich in art and literature, his brilliant court and invincible armies. Bernier's admiration is balanced by accounts of the king's moral lapses and multiple adulterous affairs. Perhaps his worst failing was his persecution of non-Catholics: not only reprehensible but an error that crippled the economy when thousands of Protestants fled the country. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
A lively and generally accurate account of the life and reign of the Sun King. Bernier relies heavily on printed primary sources, so he has a good feel for 17th-century France. However, his almost total neglect of recent scholarship deprives the reader of important new interpretations. Thus, for example, he repeats the old theory that the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes was an economic catastrophe for the country. Still, he does an admirable job of presenting Louis XIV as intelligent and hardworking, sincerely interested in the welfare of his people and basically moderate in his foreign policy. A good addition to public and undergraduate libraries. Thomas J. Schaeper, St. Bonaventure Univ., N.Y.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
