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The Life of Louis XVI Hardcover – Illustrated, June 14, 2016

by John Hardman (Author)

61

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A thought-provoking, authoritative biography of one of history’s most maligned rulers: France’s Louis XVI

“The definitive contribution to our understanding of Louis XVI as a man and a monarch.”—P. M. Jones, English Historical Review

“Monumental. . . . Scholars probing the mysteries of the late Old Regime and French Revolution will be working in its shadow for many years to come.”—Thomas E. Kaiser, Journal of Modern History

Louis XVI of France, who was guillotined in 1793 during the Revolution and Reign of Terror, is commonly portrayed in fiction and film either as a weak and stupid despot in thrall to his beautiful, shallow wife, Marie Antoinette, or as a cruel and treasonous tyrant. Historian John Hardman disputes both these versions in a fascinating new biography of the ill-fated monarch. Based in part on new scholarship that has emerged over the past two decades, Hardman’s illuminating study describes a highly educated ruler who, though indecisive, possessed sharp political insight and a talent for foreign policy; who often saw the dangers ahead but could not or would not prevent them; and whose great misfortune was to be caught in the violent center of a major turning point in history.

Hardman’s dramatic reassessment of the reign of Louis XVI sheds a bold new light on the man, his actions, his world, and his policies, including the king’s support for America’s War of Independence, the intricate workings of his court, the disastrous Diamond Necklace Affair, and Louis’s famous dash to Varennes.

Print length

512 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Yale University Press
Publication date

June 14, 2016
Dimensions

9.4 x 6.4 x 1.8 inches
ISBN-10

0300220421
ISBN-13

978-0300220421
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“In a work which must currently rank as the definitive contribution to our understanding of Louis XVI as a man and a monarch, Hardman displays a quite extraordinary grasp of sources relating to the court and to the high politics of the ancien régime.”—P.M. Jones, English Historical Review

"The author’s triumph . . . is his admirable balance in presenting the king’s successful traits and actions along with his unsatisfactory steps and misjudgments. . . . An important contribution to the writing and study of French history."—Brad Hooper, Booklist

"Sympathetic . . . deeply moving . . . dramatic. . . . This is biography at its finest, by one of the greatest authorities on the subject."—Chronicles

"Insightful, engaging and well written, The Life of Louis XVI will remain an indispensable source for scholars of the Old Regime and the Revolution for years to come."—Michael P. Fitzsimmons, H-France Review

"This is the product of a lifetime's research and writing on late eighteenth-century France by one of the foremost scholars of the era. Original, gripping and authoritative, it is the best biography in any language of Louis XVI, and a significant contribution to the history of the French Revolution."—Munro Price, author of The Perilous Crown: France Between Revolutions

"John Hardman has written a highly readable, well-paced biography of Louis XVI which draws on the most recent scholarship on French kingship and court politics. He shows sensitivity and sympathy for a monarch who was not blind to what was happening around him but who felt increasingly trapped by forces he could not control."—Alan Forrest, author of Napoleon: Life, Legacy, and Image

"This new life of Louis XVI, by the world’s leading authority, not only tells all the good stories with considerable verve, it also offers insightful analyses of the politics of this tragic life that began in the palace of Versailles and ended on the scaffold of the Revolution. It is simply the most authoritative biography of Louis XVI ever written."—Peter Campbell, former professor of French History, University of Versailles

About the Author

John Hardman is one of the world’s leading experts on the French Revolution and the author of several well-regarded books on the subject. He was formerly lecturer in modern history at the University of Edinburgh.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press; Illustrated edition (June 14, 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 512 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0300220421
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0300220421
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.24 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #557,173 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #276 in Historical France Biographies
- #895 in French History (Books)
- #938 in Royalty Biographies

Customer Reviews:
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4.3 out of 5

61 global ratings

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David Tooke

Superb

Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2016

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I can't recommend this highly enough. Hartman is that rare commodity -- he knows his stuff, he writes well, he makes judgments which seem sound (and seem to come from someone with real experience of the world). Here he takes one of those cardboard characters of history -- the doltish, ineffectual last ancient regime king of France who wrote "rien [nothing]" in his diary the day the Bastille was taken by the mob -- and shows that Louis was intelligent, well-meaning, and had a sophisticated grasp of foreign and domestic affairs. He was extremely unlucky, but probably none in his place could have saved the monarchy. The basic narrative is that, given, the situation Louis inherited, there was little chance that reasonable reform (which Louis not only wanted but was willing to impose) could work because the nobility saw itself as the enemy of the
crown, and the non-noble public turned out to dislike both. But Louis, mentally and to some extent physically imprisoned in the small group of palaces he lived in (he left this small circle only once before the Revolution), with no sense of what the 28 million French were thinking, was hopelessly out of touch. The point is, he wasn't dumb, he did try, he was done in by the class that should have recognized he was their only hope.
One thing about this historian -- he supplies, in plain English, just the right amount of information a somewhat knowledgeable but non-specialist reader needs. So, when he refers, for example, to the French "parlements" or the papal bull "Unigenitus", he tells you immediately and without pedantry what these things are. So the book should be accessible to anyone with an interest in the coming of the revolution.
He is also trenchant on the great chestnut questions of Louis' decisions and intentions -- when he escaped Paris on the ill-fated "flight to Varennes", for example, did he intend to flee abroad or raise the royal standard in the provinces? How far would he have accepted an English style constitutional monarchy had that option proved available? Why did he risk his throne, if you will, to support an anti-ancien-regime rebellion in the 13 colonies? Hardman is good on all these points, and more.
There should be more books like this, about more subjects.

26 people found this helpful

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Amazon Shopper D

Best biography of Louis XVl

Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2023

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Without question the best comprehensive biography on Louis XVl in years. Richly detail and beautifully written as is typical of the Author’s books

Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2019

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The first truly comprehensive biography of Louis XVI. The author truly assessed the King’s actions and feelings and truly absolves the King of many of the failings which are unjustly attributed to his character and person. Far from being a Roi Faineant(Do-Nothing King), Louis XVI tried to save the institution which he represented only to have many elements back fire. A wonderful biography

One person found this helpful

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Adeline F

Good but could be better

Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2022

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The book is missing the biggest factor of the French Revolution which is the betrayal of the French nobility against the royal couple. Marie Antoinette snubbed the French nobles and the most powerful nobles’ families. The French nobility hated the Queen as much as the peasants. The most reviling moments in the book was when Lafayette told the Queen that she was an adulteress and the dauphin was the bastard of Fersen. I did like the book. However, it doesn’t recognize enough that Louis XVI was a good king who love its people. The French debt was mostly do to the Navy budget and the American Revolution and not the frivolities of the royal couple. Louis XVI was going to accept the monarchy constitutional if they would have give him Versailles and a few other estates. It is a real shame that the Americans did nothing to help a king that gave them and pay for their freedom !

3 people found this helpful

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Simon1800

Very detailed

Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2019

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If you want to know a large amount on Louis XVI this your book, from his childhood up to his untimely execution, this book provides a very detailed life story. It has a rich characters and scenes that make you dive in into the drama that went on in Versailles while Louis XVI was ruling France.

One person found this helpful

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Anne L. Prescott

Ambivalence

Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2016

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I much enjoyed the sheer volume of material as well as the fairness to Louis (and could have used more material on the king's wife). The author, I think, fails to use the same complex approach to the revolutionaries, especially Robespierre, as he so intelligently does when writing about the king. My main problem is with the prose, which needs severe editing, and I am astounded that Yale UP (which published my own books) did such a lousy job. But the book is good to have. Read it.

4 people found this helpful

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Gmac

The seller was great. The book is a difficult book as it ...

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2017

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The seller was great. The book is a difficult book as it is full of detailed facts that has slowed my reading down. However, it is a very worthwhile book to read. I have to rate it with 5 stars as the author really did his homework in writing this.

2 people found this helpful

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Rafael Porro

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2016

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EXCELLENT BIOGRAPHY OF LOUIS XVI

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Robert

brilliant biography.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 19, 2023

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Superbly written.First class in every way
One of the best biographies I have read.

L. Antoine

Great book

Reviewed in Canada on November 13, 2020

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Perfect condition and fascinating subject

Amazon Customer

Erudite

Reviewed in India on April 4, 2021

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I'd have appreciated more if the book contained more familial details surrounding Louis XVI.

Carlos Gabriel León Ibarra

Justa valoración del último monarca francés

Reviewed in Mexico on February 7, 2018

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Con base en una exhaustiva investigación de archivo, e incorporando los últimos trabajos historiográficos sobre el tema, John Hardman publica una biografía de Luis XVI que podría considerarse como una segunda edición de su publicación "Louis XVI. A Silent King". El trabajo demuestra que el último monarca borbón no fue ese soberano perezoso y estúpido que retratan infinidad de manuscritos contemporáneos, y que fueron replicados por trabajos académicos hasta años recientes. Su alianza con la monarquía española en momentos clave (como en 1779, cuando las trece colonias inglesas buscaban su independencia), el esmero con el que busco disminuir el déficit de la monarquía, entre otras características más, retratan a un soberano inteligente, y con una política exterior mejor definida de lo que suele aceptarse. El libro también reseña sus debilidades, como su falta de carisma, su carencia de asertividad y el rodearse de ministros poco capaces en el mejor de los casos, lo cual contribuyó al incremento de un descontento real, y que culminó con los eventos de 1789 y su ejecución en la guillotina en 1793.

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Mr Tim Cole

New Biography- The Life of King Louis XVI by John Hardman

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 25, 2017

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This is an exhausting and comprehensive account of one of the most complex men ever to wear the French Crown. Of course, it was in the Reign of King Louis XVI that the French Revolution began in 1789 and started a startling course of events that would ultimately reshape France and much of Europe.Author John Hardman traces Louis's extraordinary life from his birth through to his execution which took place in 1793. He is particularly thorough in his relationship with his Austrian Queen Marie Antoinette and her overbearing reputation which did such harm to the French Monarchy as the reign progresses. However, Louis is a man full of surprise and complexity as Hardman illustrates throughout much of this long but compelling biography. In fact, Marie Antoinette's influence is not as great as some historians allude to claims Hardman throughout much of his work.The irony with Louis XVI is that he wished to reform the authoritarian despotic monarchy but had neither the finances or strength of support to achieve any of the radical ideas he proposed. So instead France stagnated to the point of violent and bloody revolution which erupted in 1789. Of course Louis was slow-witted and lacked any political dynanism to establish his will upon France. He was a devoted family man and was simple in his tastes in a country noted for its extravagance in the face of over-riding poverty that the majority of its subjects faced. This is a full bloodied biography which is essentially sympathetic towards Louis, but doesn't hide from all of the faults and the tensions that eventually cracked and toppled his regime. This is a book to seriously get your teeth into with eye opening facts you would not have believed about King Louis XVI, i urge you to go and order your copy now you will not be disappointed!

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