Customer Reviews

Memoirs of Duc de Saint-Simon, 1715-1723: Fatal Weakness

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I am the publisher of this book, the third and final edition of Saint-Simon's memoirs. If you are on book one or two, and unsure about whether to continue, I can assure you will not be disappointed. D'Orleans has taken the helm as regent, and we see the close of Saint-Simon's life at court. I titled this book "Fatal Weakness." While Saint-Simon uses this term to describe his friend d'Orleans, I use it with affectionate irony about the Duke himself. At the end of this work, you can't help but feel you know the Duke a little better than he knew himself. For me, reading the last page was like losing a friend, and it remains one of the most rewarding works I've ever read.

This is a very attractive and pleasing, three-volume edition of one of the all-time great memoirs, if not the greatest. You may think you have no interest in Louis XIV or his court, but if you have the slightest interest in the creation of the modern state, you can dip in to any passage in any of the three volumes and find something fascinating and revelatory. This 300-year-old work will still be avidly read 300 years from now. Consider it the ultimate gossip column about the "beautiful people" who had so much influence on our history. We have nothing comparable on Washington, Wall Street or Hollywood.