At the Court of Versailles: Eyewitness Reports from the Reign of Louis XIV

by Gilette Ziegler (Editor), Simon Watson Taylor (Translator)

8.4" * 5.5". Blue cloth hardcover.

Genres: France

402 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

Reviews

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection of primary sources carefully arranged in chronological order, grouped by major events, but the emphasis on the history of the time period in people's own words means there is little time spent on the analysis needed to separate fact from rumor or examining the different biases that influenced people's accounts of the day to day life of Versailles.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compiled in the style of an oral history, this fascinating book tells the story of Louis XIV's court of Versailles through a masterful assembly of eyewitness reports. Memoirs, letters, diaries, newspaper accounts, and official reports by all manner of participants in the Sun King's court give a lively and riveting picture of life at Versailles. Each chapter deals with a notable event or period of the court's history, and the linking passages provided by Zeigler give just enough context to make the narrative clear without overwhelming the reader with detail. The focus remains on the primary accounts, and I would recommend this book over any third-party history of Louis XIV's Versailles for readability alone.