Louis XVIII, Revised Edition [Paperback]

Philip Mansel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 25, 1999

Louis XVIII, is often considered a nonentity whose weaknesses, apathy, greed, insensitivity, were flagrant, and whose virtues, prudence, imperturbability, moderation, were unspectacular. Mansel sets out to prove he deserves better. The author considers the King's exile and move from Germany to Italy, from Italy to Russia and finally England, as well as examining Louis XVIII's ten year reign on the throne of France.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Sutton Publishing (July 25, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0750922176
• ISBN-13: 978-0750922173
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,283,294 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enigmatic King for Turbulent Times, April 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Louis XVIII, Revised Edition (Paperback)

If the French Revolution is a gulf yawning between the Ancien Regime and the truly modern world, then few kings could have embodied that disjunction better than Louis XVIII. Born in 1755, he lived to see his brother and sister-in-law, Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, guillotined by extreme revolutionaries; the Corsican general Napoleon Bonaparte seize the throne and declare himself emperor; and his country welcome him back after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo. Bitter memories of his brother's ignominious death encouraged him to steer a course between reactionaries and revolutionaries. Although Louis has often been dismissed as a non-entity, Mansel's eminently readable biography presents a more balanced portrait of this enigmatic survivor.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Filling in the Blanks, May 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Louis XVIII, Revised Edition (Paperback)

Mansel's biography does an excellent job filling in some blanks in French History; the times from Louis XIV through Napoleon I are very well documented, but so little has been written about the restoration monarchs. This biography is thoughtful and detailed, chronicling a prince who spent the better part of his life waiting in the wings to attain his throne. Mansel does a superb job working with Louis' known words (spoken and written) to reveal the character behind this somewhat elusive figure. A major find!

My only complaint against the book (which brought it from 5 stars to 4) is the author's very annoying insistence on quoting innumerable sources in French and then translating them in full into English. For those who read French, the English translation slows reading (one can't help but compare one's own translation to that of the author); for those that don't, the French is superfluous. This bilingual quotation method is occasionally useful when a critical shade of meaning must be brought across; to do it on virtually every page is just a nuisance.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gem of a book!, January 28, 2002

By 

L. Henderson (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Louis XVIII, Revised Edition (Paperback)

The brilliance of Philip Mansel shines in Louis XVIII. For some reason history regards his reign as just a footnote, in reality Louis XVIII shines as a much more intelligent and reasonable monarch for his time. I deliberately took my time reading this book, I wanted to savor all the information Mr. Mansel presented so well! A fabulous look into France after the tumult of the revolution and Bonaparte!