King of the World: The Life of Louis XIV
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- Create Date：2022-02-11 09:52:15
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：Philip Mansel
- ISBN：0241960584
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Summary
'The ultimate biography of the Sun King， Louis XIV' Simon Sebag MontefioreA TELEGRAPH AND BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE BOOK OF THE YEAR
Louis XIV， King of France and Navarre， dominated his age。 In the second half of the seventeenth century， he extended France's frontiers into the Netherlands and Germany， and established colonies in America， Africa and India。 Louisiana， which once occupied a third of the territory of the present-day United States， is named after him。
Louis was also one of the greatest patrons of European history - Moli�re， Racine， Lully， Le Brun， le N�tre all worked for him。 The stupendous palace he built at Versailles， and its satellites at Marly and Trianon， became the envy of monarchs all over Europe， frequently imitated but never surpassed。 In all his palaces， Louis encouraged dancing， hunting， music and gambling。 He loved conversation， especially with women: the power of women in Louis's life and reign is a particular theme of this book。
Louis was obsessed by the details of government， and travelled extensively around his kingdom， but often his choices for ministers and generals proved disastrous。 After the death of his very able minister Colbert， the extraordinary cost of building palaces and waging continuous wars devastated French finances and helped set France on the path to revolution。 In 1685， his decision to revoke toleration for Protestants damaged his country， and alienated Protestant Europe and at the end of his life， his forces were persistently defeated by the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy。 Nevertheless， by his death， he had helped make his grandson king of Spain， where his descendants still reign， and France had taken essentially the shape it has today。
Philip Mansel's King of the World is much the most comprehensive and up-to-date biography of this hypnotic， flawed figure in English。 It draws on all the latest research in France， Britain and America and pays special attention to the culture of the court， on which Mansel is an acknowledged expert。 It is a convincing and compelling portrait of a man who， three hundred years after his death， still epitomises the idea of le grand monarque。
Louis XIV， King of France and Navarre， dominated his age。 In the second half of the seventeenth century， he extended France's frontiers into the Netherlands and Germany， and established colonies in America， Africa and India。 Louisiana， which once occupied a third of the territory of the present-day United States， is named after him。
Louis was also one of the greatest patrons of European history - Moli�re， Racine， Lully， Le Brun， le N�tre all worked for him。 The stupendous palace he built at Versailles， and its satellites at Marly and Trianon， became the envy of monarchs all over Europe， frequently imitated but never surpassed。 In all his palaces， Louis encouraged dancing， hunting， music and gambling。 He loved conversation， especially with women: the power of women in Louis's life and reign is a particular theme of this book。
Louis was obsessed by the details of government， and travelled extensively around his kingdom， but often his choices for ministers and generals proved disastrous。 After the death of his very able minister Colbert， the extraordinary cost of building palaces and waging continuous wars devastated French finances and helped set France on the path to revolution。 In 1685， his decision to revoke toleration for Protestants damaged his country， and alienated Protestant Europe and at the end of his life， his forces were persistently defeated by the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy。 Nevertheless， by his death， he had helped make his grandson king of Spain， where his descendants still reign， and France had taken essentially the shape it has today。
Philip Mansel's King of the World is much the most comprehensive and up-to-date biography of this hypnotic， flawed figure in English。 It draws on all the latest research in France， Britain and America and pays special attention to the culture of the court， on which Mansel is an acknowledged expert。 It is a convincing and compelling portrait of a man who， three hundred years after his death， still epitomises the idea of le grand monarque。
Reviews
Pj Mensel
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Not a bad biographyAfter watching Versailles the series I wanted to know more。 Louis XIV was truly a jack of all trades and a master of none but he certainly knew how to impress。 He reigned a very very long time so his impact on France was immense
TJ
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I finished reading King of the World: The Life of Louis XIV by Philip Mansel today。 While it began much slower than I would have liked， the author finally kept his promise of an international/political perspective of Louis’ reign。 Strong points of the book include:Influential ministers and diplomatsPersonal relationships of Louis XIV with other royal houses in EuropeHis military campaignsExplanations of European alliances and their evolutionsLouis’ unwitting part in the elevation of William III I finished reading King of the World: The Life of Louis XIV by Philip Mansel today。 While it began much slower than I would have liked， the author finally kept his promise of an international/political perspective of Louis’ reign。 Strong points of the book include:Influential ministers and diplomatsPersonal relationships of Louis XIV with other royal houses in EuropeHis military campaignsExplanations of European alliances and their evolutionsLouis’ unwitting part in the elevation of William III of Orange to the throne of England。 THIS was really interesting to me， as I studied abroad in the Netherlands。 A very well-researched and written contribution。Weak points:Louis’ childhood。 Somehow， Mansel made the Fronde seem boring。French colonies and territories outside of Europe。 They are mentioned in passing， but are not discussed。Overall， a pretty decent read。 。。。more
Ellen S
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4。5
Jonathan
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An enjoyable biography of pre-Revolutionary France's most important monarch。 This Louis ruled for a long time （1654 -1715） and he was a prolific builder and war-maker。 While we can still enjoy his palaces and fortresses today， and the provinces he added to France， he bankrupted his kingdom and impoverished his subjects （we know that， over the course of his reign， French soldiers became smaller） and doomed his dynasty。 His greatest blunder was allowing his fanatical Catholicism to get the better An enjoyable biography of pre-Revolutionary France's most important monarch。 This Louis ruled for a long time （1654 -1715） and he was a prolific builder and war-maker。 While we can still enjoy his palaces and fortresses today， and the provinces he added to France， he bankrupted his kingdom and impoverished his subjects （we know that， over the course of his reign， French soldiers became smaller） and doomed his dynasty。 His greatest blunder was allowing his fanatical Catholicism to get the better of him and making Protestantism illegal， making him many enemies and exiling an important community。 Some would later say that De Gaulle's 5th Republic was an elected version of Louis XIV's absolute monarchy （De Gaulle's family were monarchists and from Lille， which Louis conquered）。 A good read about a fascinating time and man。 。。。more
Conrad Timon
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You get good insight of European history during his reign， large number of characters， many with long titles can lead to difficult following story。
Simon Bradley
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A staggering work that brings to life the man and the world of one of europe’s most famous monarchs。 The complicated history of france since louis XIV means we tend to know a lot less about this monumental figure in history than we ought。 You cannot understand c17 and 18 european history wiithoit studying this man alongside Peter the Great and Frederic the Great。
Allison
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Astonishingly easy to read given its length。 A pleasure。
Toby
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If our present queen reigns until 2025， by which time she will be 99， then she will have exceeded Louis XIV's 72 year reign as the longest reigning European monarch。 The fact that this is a record stretching back to 1715 is in itself remarkable， although Louis XIV's accession as a child obviously gave him a certain advantage in this respect。 Louis XIV remains an object of pride in republican France， the palace of Versailles being the most visited human construction in the world after the Great W If our present queen reigns until 2025， by which time she will be 99， then she will have exceeded Louis XIV's 72 year reign as the longest reigning European monarch。 The fact that this is a record stretching back to 1715 is in itself remarkable， although Louis XIV's accession as a child obviously gave him a certain advantage in this respect。 Louis XIV remains an object of pride in republican France， the palace of Versailles being the most visited human construction in the world after the Great Wall of China and his reign continuing to be associated with style， elegance， la gloire and French prestige and victory。Philip Mansel is not French and so writes from a certain distance。 This is no hatchet job， but his summary of Louis's reign does not spare the brutality， the fiscal incontinence nor the long-term consequences of an autocracy that simply went on too long。 Louis himself comes across as devout， generous and welcoming， albeit sequestered away in remote luxury from the poverty and starvation of his people。 He is the first French monarch to visit a synagogue， he shows interest in the world - and not wholly from a proto-colonial mindset。 He is brave in warfare and elegant in dancing。 And yet he is also blinkered。 Catholicism and dynasty are the preoccupations of his world and this leads him into an unnecessary persecution of the Huguenots and a wasteful and pointless war in defence of the Bourbon monarchy in Spain。 His utter destruction of the Palatinate towns， including mass murder of their inhabitants revisits the horrors of the 30 years war upon them and prefigures the Twentieth Century。This is a fast-paced and very well written biography。 To squeeze such a long reign into 450 pages of text requires a certain skill both as writer and editor。 The three central chapters look at Versailles and Louis's personality。 The chapters either side look at glory and defeat。 At times the knowing eye to Twentieth Century conflicts can be a bit wearisome。 We don't need to be told twice that Dunkirk saw the evacuation of 338，000 allied soldiers in 1940， nor that Mons and Vimy Ridge were also scenes of First World War battles。 These towns have places outside of Twentieth Century conflicts and perhaps might like to be remembered without reference to mass carnage。 。。。more
JP Mitton
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An excellent survey of Louis the XIV life and times。 A Good Read！
Pontus Noren
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Well written and researched - not necessarily an easy readThis is a detailed account of Louis XIV life written and gives great insight into life at court during his reign。 There is a big focus on the ins and outs of individuals and I would have preferred more macro political analysis as opposed to what certain princes did or thought。 It is academic in style and not a leisure read。 If that’s what you are looking for this is a great book！
Andrew Dockrill
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Having read Mansels biogtaphy of Louis XIV I can definitely appreciate he writing style， but I don't believe I would read anymore of his material。 His knowledge of the period and the French court is extensive， and approaches the biography in a thematic sense， where he dissects it in through lenses such as palaces and its court manners， or trade etc。 Each chapter can get lost in it's own information though， going down so many rabbit holes。Another aspect of Mansel's book was that he was not writin Having read Mansels biogtaphy of Louis XIV I can definitely appreciate he writing style， but I don't believe I would read anymore of his material。 His knowledge of the period and the French court is extensive， and approaches the biography in a thematic sense， where he dissects it in through lenses such as palaces and its court manners， or trade etc。 Each chapter can get lost in it's own information though， going down so many rabbit holes。Another aspect of Mansel's book was that he was not writing it to paint Louis XIV as the perfect absolute ruler who history has called the "sun king"。 Instead he takes the approach of trying to reevaluate his reign and question if the idea of him as an absolute ruler still holds merit， or whether this was just a fassade。 He makes the argument that quite often it was his ministers or those who surrounded him who often forced his hand or pushed him into policies， but to maintain appearance he made sure that it was believed that the decision was his。 I also appreciated that Mansel also wanted to make it clear， just how much Louis had damaged France。 Mansel argued that he certainly made important contributions to France， such as trade， but he also makes it clear that when his finance minister Colbert was active the country was millions in debt。 He then points out that at the end of his reign， France was 1。8 billion in debt， and was essentially using funds 4 years in advance of when it would have feasibly have been available。 One thing I did take from this biography was that I was definitely left with a resonating curiosity about his brother Philip duc D'Orleans who was a cross dressing homosexual and also a soldier who won the battle of Cassel against the Netherlands。 All in all， I was hovering in my review between a three and a four， as the book did tend to drag a fair bit here and there and the chapters could be exhausting as Mansel would drone on down different rabbit holes and on a few occasions I had forgot the point that Philip was making。 In the end I for the four given his writing style。 。。。more
Alex’Books and Socks
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4/5 because I just absolutely love the sun king， only thing that bothered me tromendously was the fact that the details got details， full review up soon。
Kerry Ritz
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just couldn't get past all of the detail。 very very tedious。 just couldn't get past all of the detail。 very very tedious。 。。。more
Liviu
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This was an excellent book and quite better than I expected; due to the vastness of its subject （the Sun King's reign lasted 72 years and for 50+ of them he was in true control at least in so far the administrative and technological development of the era allowed it） the book feels rushed here and there and I would have liked more on the crucial mid 1670'd to the mid 1680's in which he transformed from a young， bright， warlike but enlightened monarch to the one who persecuted， murdered and expel This was an excellent book and quite better than I expected; due to the vastness of its subject （the Sun King's reign lasted 72 years and for 50+ of them he was in true control at least in so far the administrative and technological development of the era allowed it） the book feels rushed here and there and I would have liked more on the crucial mid 1670'd to the mid 1680's in which he transformed from a young， bright， warlike but enlightened monarch to the one who persecuted， murdered and expelled the Huguenots and the Jansenists， impoverished his people who died in mass famines due to relentless war against almost all of Europ， war in which the armies under close control of the king burnt and pillaged their way through Western Germany， Northern Italy and Belgium - which was quite shocking for the day as after the 30 Year war， the rulers of Europe felt that war should be limited and even in the invasion of Holland in the early 1670's the king was much milder - and also which invited brutal retaliation when the fortunes of war turned against France。Written with skill and reading almost like a novel， while pointing out various things connecting the era of Louis the XiV to today （not only Versailles which is the obvious inheritance of the modern era， but also the fact that the borders of France which were much enlarged under his reign remained pretty much the same until today with the exceptions of a few Belgian towns lost in the Spanish succession war and a few others）， I really liked this one and highly recommend it 。。。more
Henri Tournyol du Clos
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If you are already familiar with French history， this is an extremely well thought-out and enjoyable book on a complex， fascnating and crucial period， and its （mostly） terrible long-term legacy。
Jo
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