Customer Reviews

Richelieu (A Studio book)

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To understand the motivation for a highly regarded New York attorney, and a successful novelist, to contribute this volume to the Richelieu lore, you have to know the author. He is as comfortable reading and writing in French as he is his native English. His research for this book would have been based on the original French language documents, and that research would have been an act of love. His deep affection for France, and for the man who is most responsible for the creation of the French nation, is apparent throughout the book. Nowhere, however is it as clearly stated as in his description of the all-or-nothing showdown which Richelieu has with King Louis XIII's wife and queen, Marie de Medici. Known as "The Day of Dupes," this confrontation between Richelieu and Marie preserved the foundations of what became the modern nation-state of France. On the side of Marie was the inertia of centuries of feudalism, personified by the rebellious nobles and the clergy, with Marie's full support. On the other side, was one man. Auchincloss writes, "Behind the weeping cardinal, on the other hand, was simply France, France as we conceive of her to this day, ordered, disciplined, beautiful - the nation where pleasure is an art and glory a duty." These are the words of a man with the most profound respect and affection for a country not his own. It is this affection that inspired the author to create this excellent book about the man who, despite the disadvantages of birth, ill health, and a weak sovereign as his sponsor, gave France its heart and soul.

It is a lavishly illustrated book, and the reader will henceforth always recognize Cardinal Richelieu at any chance encounter. And we will also recognize King Louis XIII, Marie de Medici, and their key contemporaries who alternately assisted or retarded France's unsteady march toward modernity.

But it was Pope Urban VIII who had the last word, "If there is a God, the Cardinal de Richelieu will have much to answer for; if not...well, he had a successful life."

This was the first book I read on Richelieu, and these days I look through it and think "hmm, it's got 'novelist' written all over it". It is really not much more than a coffee table book, not to be compared with serious works by the likes of Tapie or Church. It was published in 1972, and unlike some books on the Cardinal, has dated rather badly. (The most annoying part for me is its homophobic undertones when writing about Louis XIII). The best part of the book is the lavish illustrations, some of which are engravings rarely reproduced. They are the main reason to buy it. (But again, take note: Charles, comte de Soissons, pictured as "one of Richelieu's persistent enemies" in fact died in 1612, long before Richelieu played any role in government. This is the sort of error which lowers the book's value.) As I said, not a serious book, and not one to form your opinions from, but the pictures are interesting... if you ignore the captions.