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Louis XIV: The Power and the Glory
An intelligent, authoritative, and often surprising biography of the most famous of French monarchs, by an acclaimed biographer and historian.
This stylish and incisive narrative presents readers with a fresh perspective on one of the most fascinating kings in European history. Louis XIV’s story has all the ingredients of a Dumas legendary beginnings, beguiling women, court intrigue, a mysterious prisoner in an iron mask, lavish court entertainments, the scandal of a mistress who was immersed in the dark arts, and a central character who is handsome and romantic, but with a frighteningly dark side to his character.
Louis believed himself to be semi-divine. His self-identification as the Sun King, which was reflected in iconography by the sun god, Apollo, influenced every aspect of Louis’s his political philosophy, his wars, and his relationships with courtiers and subjects.
As a military strategist, Louis’s capacity was ambiguous, but he was an astute politician who led his country to the heights of sophistication and power—and then had the misfortune to live long enough to see it all crumble away. As the sun began to set upon this most glorious of reigns, it brought a gathering darkness filled with the anguish of dead heirs, threatened borders, and a populace that was dangerously dependent upon—but greatly distanced from—its king.
This stylish and incisive narrative presents readers with a fresh perspective on one of the most fascinating kings in European history. Louis XIV’s story has all the ingredients of a Dumas legendary beginnings, beguiling women, court intrigue, a mysterious prisoner in an iron mask, lavish court entertainments, the scandal of a mistress who was immersed in the dark arts, and a central character who is handsome and romantic, but with a frighteningly dark side to his character.
Louis believed himself to be semi-divine. His self-identification as the Sun King, which was reflected in iconography by the sun god, Apollo, influenced every aspect of Louis’s his political philosophy, his wars, and his relationships with courtiers and subjects.
As a military strategist, Louis’s capacity was ambiguous, but he was an astute politician who led his country to the heights of sophistication and power—and then had the misfortune to live long enough to see it all crumble away. As the sun began to set upon this most glorious of reigns, it brought a gathering darkness filled with the anguish of dead heirs, threatened borders, and a populace that was dangerously dependent upon—but greatly distanced from—its king.
488 pages, Hardcover
First published March 5, 2019
59 people are currently reading
355 people want to read
About the author
Josephine Wilkinson
13 books56 followersDr Josephine Wilkinson received a First Class Honours degree from the University of Newcastle. She was the winner of the Third Year Prize for her work on The Little Apocalypse, which placed Mark chapter 13 into its historical context, and the Jewish Studies Prize for her historical study of the community at Qumran. She remained at Newcastle, earning an MPhil for her thesis on the historical John the Baptist (as close to a biography as is possible to do); her PhD traced historical traditions and legends of John the Baptist across several cultures as well as art, literature and film.
She was a scholar-in-residence at Gladstone's Library in Hawarden (formerly St Deiniol's Library), Britain's only residential library. This was founded in 1898 by the great Victorian statesman, William Gladstone. Great Britain's only Prime Ministerial library, it is based on Gladstone's personal collection. Dr Wilkinson has also held an honorary post at the University of Glasgow.
The recipient of a British Academy award, she is the author of a two volume biography of Richard III, the first volume of which, Richard III, the Young King To Be, has been published by Amberley. She is currently writing volume two. Other books are Mary Boleyn: The True Story of Henry VIII's Favourite Mistress, The Early Loves of Anne Boleyn and The Princes in the Tower. She lives in the attic of a mediaeval house within the city walls of York.
Follow her blog: http://josepha-josephine-wilkinson.bl...
She was a scholar-in-residence at Gladstone's Library in Hawarden (formerly St Deiniol's Library), Britain's only residential library. This was founded in 1898 by the great Victorian statesman, William Gladstone. Great Britain's only Prime Ministerial library, it is based on Gladstone's personal collection. Dr Wilkinson has also held an honorary post at the University of Glasgow.
The recipient of a British Academy award, she is the author of a two volume biography of Richard III, the first volume of which, Richard III, the Young King To Be, has been published by Amberley. She is currently writing volume two. Other books are Mary Boleyn: The True Story of Henry VIII's Favourite Mistress, The Early Loves of Anne Boleyn and The Princes in the Tower. She lives in the attic of a mediaeval house within the city walls of York.
Follow her blog: http://josepha-josephine-wilkinson.bl...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
March 30, 2019
Louis XIV: The Power and the Glory, has to be one of the best books on the subject of the Sun King I've read thus far. Well rounded and and historically accurate, the timeline of his life in concert with the creation of Versailles and the religious turbulence of the time was both comprehensive and satisfying in a way that left the reader satisfied rather than bored with the political details. The writer interspersed Louis' personal life with his political life in ways that made sense; nothing came out of left field making the reader wonder why he'd support one relationship over another. In an era where romantic liaisons could affect whether or not a country went to war, the writer made it very clear how, why and granted time lines for political connections that did not confuse. And through oceans of time, she granted Louis XIV the vibrancy in this era that made him the sun in his own; she granted him the charisma and grace via the contrast of his flaws and limitations of the time. All in all, the book was an excellent analysis of a ruler and the affect his reign had on his world and the world that came after.
November 18, 2022
This was an ok biography. Part of the issue is that Louis XIV reigned for so long that this short of a book can not encompass it all in depth. Wilkinson gives a decent overview of this time, but with a focus on Louis's lovers. The wars were given a decent treatment, in that why they happened and when, and between who, was all clear.
Another issue (and this is not Wilkinson's fault) is that many people share names- there were so many Louis and Phillipe by the end that it got confusing. I do feel like a family tree to keep clear how they were related, or perhaps a listing of them all with their titles, or both really, would have been quite helpful.
The final thing that made it somewhat confusing is that sometimes you would end a chapter at a certain year, and the next chapter would go back in time.
Overall, this was interesting but confusing, and might be better for someone who either knows some of this history already, or is simply looking for some background.
Check out my YouTube channel for bookish videos and monthly wrap ups!
Another issue (and this is not Wilkinson's fault) is that many people share names- there were so many Louis and Phillipe by the end that it got confusing. I do feel like a family tree to keep clear how they were related, or perhaps a listing of them all with their titles, or both really, would have been quite helpful.
The final thing that made it somewhat confusing is that sometimes you would end a chapter at a certain year, and the next chapter would go back in time.
Overall, this was interesting but confusing, and might be better for someone who either knows some of this history already, or is simply looking for some background.
Check out my YouTube channel for bookish videos and monthly wrap ups!
October 2, 2020
I've heard of this history writer as a "revisionist" historian, and so I wasn't quite sure about what that revisionism might entail...and since is this time of Covid, I couldn't read a first chapter in the library to see if it really was the best book on Louis XIV, so checking it out was kind of a gamble, and I admit reading it was an expansion of my horizons, kind of like reading a years worth of "People" magazines in a doctors office waiting room. It was a jolly romp through the boudoirs, grand fetes, and salons of 17th Century Paris & Versailles. So not really my cup of tea, but I know full well how some people love gossip about celebrities...which is the whole reason for all the "People" magazines in doctor's waiting rooms. So the author gives a very well documented deep dive into the culture of the court of the Sun King, and some penetrating insight into the thinking of Louis XIV, his mistresses, family, advisors and even his wives. And the fashions of the period...which was easy to skim through quickly without missing anything. I'm looking forward to my next book, Alexander Dumas "Twenty Years After" set in the early part of the reign of Louis XIV, and I expect to learn more history of note in the process.
September 8, 2025
This was a brisk look at the life of Louis XIV. Wilkinson doesn’t discuss his legacy or the consequences of Louis’ rule for the future of the monarchy or of France. Rather, there is a bit of background at the beginning (family history) and then a very tight focus on life as Louis lived it. War and politics figure, but so do wives and mistresses. Indeed, as a young man, Louis enjoyed many, many women. There seems to have been something like an official mistress (maybe there were three or four over the course of his life) but many passing sexual partners. Wilkinson doesn’t get into the weeds with the many women there must have been, but it seems that this was an important part of life at court and there is a lot in the book about the mistresses. Until Francoise shows up, the women in Louis’ life are a big part of the book.
There is also politics, at least initially as Louis is consolidating his power: Louis inherited a France that was not yet an absolute monarchy, though Mazarin was moving things in that direction for him during the regency. The Fronde disturbances during Louis childhood reveal that France was very much in turmoil and illustrates why Louis avoided Paris for his country Chateaus (first Versailles and then Marly, which is sadly no longer with us). Louis ousted Fouquet and then used Colbert in a very different way than his predecessors had used (or been used by) Mazarin and Richelieu. It made him an absolute monarch in complete control of government. But Louis comes across as hard-working and wise and, in his capable hands, absolute monarchy sort of worked. In less capable hands, of course, it was a recipe for revolution.
The wars Louis won figure oddly little in the book. It’s my only quibble with it: his power and fame at the time are owed to a large degree to his success on the battle field and, for a long time at least, he won a lot of wars and greatly expanded France’s borders. We don’t hear that much about these wars in the book.
Wilkinson makes up for this by discussing a bit Louis’ efforts to make Versailles the magnificent place it is today: the inspiration he got from Vaux le Vicomte, the designers who worked on it, etc. they all get at least a sentence or two. And today, Versailles is Louis’ legacy.
There is also politics, at least initially as Louis is consolidating his power: Louis inherited a France that was not yet an absolute monarchy, though Mazarin was moving things in that direction for him during the regency. The Fronde disturbances during Louis childhood reveal that France was very much in turmoil and illustrates why Louis avoided Paris for his country Chateaus (first Versailles and then Marly, which is sadly no longer with us). Louis ousted Fouquet and then used Colbert in a very different way than his predecessors had used (or been used by) Mazarin and Richelieu. It made him an absolute monarch in complete control of government. But Louis comes across as hard-working and wise and, in his capable hands, absolute monarchy sort of worked. In less capable hands, of course, it was a recipe for revolution.
The wars Louis won figure oddly little in the book. It’s my only quibble with it: his power and fame at the time are owed to a large degree to his success on the battle field and, for a long time at least, he won a lot of wars and greatly expanded France’s borders. We don’t hear that much about these wars in the book.
Wilkinson makes up for this by discussing a bit Louis’ efforts to make Versailles the magnificent place it is today: the inspiration he got from Vaux le Vicomte, the designers who worked on it, etc. they all get at least a sentence or two. And today, Versailles is Louis’ legacy.
February 15, 2022
This was my first foray back into biographies after a long time—and it was propelled by an interest in French history, particularly that close before and during the French Revolution. Plus, the idea of diving into the life of Louis XIV, one of the world’s longest reigning monarchs and perhaps the most powerful European king ever, appealed to me.
The resulting biography was a mixed bag for me. When dealing with a 70+ year reign, of course you’ll have to pick and choose what aspects you emphasize in the subject’s life. I found Wilkinson’s lush depictions of French courtier
fashion to be dazzling and I found her ruminations on how Versailles functioned in Louis’ relationship to the aristocracy and how the Fronde colored his political philosophy to be insightful.
But, I felt the book was hampered by an odd unevenness with how she dealt with Louis’ military exploits and his romantic entanglements. Both of these felt “dropped into” the biography—tired tracks that dozens of former biographers and historians had trodden previously. Wilkinson was clearly most interested in Louis’ innovations with courtly ritual and the relationship between his absolute monarchy and the aristocracy; these are the strongest sections while everything else seems perfunctorily included to achieve a holistic portrait of the Sun King. I’d almost prefer a more focused book from her on court ritual and how Louis’ “gilded cage” of Versailles was part of his complex strategy to prevent a recurrence of the Fronde—the civil wars lead by “princes of the blood” and aristocrats that nearly cost Louis his crown early in his reign.
Along with a more focused take on these elements of Louis’ reign, I would have liked a clearer sense of Wilkinson’s perspective. At times, she feels aloof and merely descriptive of the events/person of Louis’ life—offering the merest tracings of interpretation on his actions. Oddly, I felt like the strongest criticisms of the French monarch were in the chapter dealing with the “unjust” trial and imprisonment of his prominent superintendent of finance Nicolas Fouquet. Louis’ persecution of religious minorities, his warmongering, and the crushing taxation/abuse of the peasantry pass with scant comment beyond their documentation.
In a way, though, this lack of apparent interpretation/bias allows me, as a reader, to form my own opinion of the Sun King—which, by the end of this bio, was extremely low. My perspective of Louis XIV is that he typified the inherent evils of strong (in his case: near-absolute) monarchy, while possessing lower-level ‘goods’ that would make him laudable in literally any other situation.
He was a politically shrewd and savvy leader, impressively hard-working, a deeply pious man with a strong sense of duty, and an affectionate father. All these traits, though, pale against his much deeper faults: a relentless militaristic zeal, an obsession with grandeur, and a hunger with asserting his dominance over literally every person and nation in his life.
At the end of the day, I think the most telling portrait of Louis was when he cracked his cane over the back of one of his countless servants in Versailles, incensed over the humiliating loss of his illegitimate son on the battlefield to the Dutch. Any admirable personal traits in Louis XIV can’t justify the overwhelming casual cruelty, absurd vainglory, and violent exclusivist tendencies of the monarchic and national vision that Louis XIV inherited and actively expanded. In light of this, I think his clearly deeply-held piety and his regretful deathbed sighs about “loving war too much” ring hollow and hypocritical. The Sun King was the apotheosis and paragon of the ancien regime, and I find myself already rooting for the French Revolutionaries who, despite their bloody tendencies and excesses, at least pursued the establishment of a world I’d have any desire to live in.
The resulting biography was a mixed bag for me. When dealing with a 70+ year reign, of course you’ll have to pick and choose what aspects you emphasize in the subject’s life. I found Wilkinson’s lush depictions of French courtier
fashion to be dazzling and I found her ruminations on how Versailles functioned in Louis’ relationship to the aristocracy and how the Fronde colored his political philosophy to be insightful.
But, I felt the book was hampered by an odd unevenness with how she dealt with Louis’ military exploits and his romantic entanglements. Both of these felt “dropped into” the biography—tired tracks that dozens of former biographers and historians had trodden previously. Wilkinson was clearly most interested in Louis’ innovations with courtly ritual and the relationship between his absolute monarchy and the aristocracy; these are the strongest sections while everything else seems perfunctorily included to achieve a holistic portrait of the Sun King. I’d almost prefer a more focused book from her on court ritual and how Louis’ “gilded cage” of Versailles was part of his complex strategy to prevent a recurrence of the Fronde—the civil wars lead by “princes of the blood” and aristocrats that nearly cost Louis his crown early in his reign.
Along with a more focused take on these elements of Louis’ reign, I would have liked a clearer sense of Wilkinson’s perspective. At times, she feels aloof and merely descriptive of the events/person of Louis’ life—offering the merest tracings of interpretation on his actions. Oddly, I felt like the strongest criticisms of the French monarch were in the chapter dealing with the “unjust” trial and imprisonment of his prominent superintendent of finance Nicolas Fouquet. Louis’ persecution of religious minorities, his warmongering, and the crushing taxation/abuse of the peasantry pass with scant comment beyond their documentation.
In a way, though, this lack of apparent interpretation/bias allows me, as a reader, to form my own opinion of the Sun King—which, by the end of this bio, was extremely low. My perspective of Louis XIV is that he typified the inherent evils of strong (in his case: near-absolute) monarchy, while possessing lower-level ‘goods’ that would make him laudable in literally any other situation.
He was a politically shrewd and savvy leader, impressively hard-working, a deeply pious man with a strong sense of duty, and an affectionate father. All these traits, though, pale against his much deeper faults: a relentless militaristic zeal, an obsession with grandeur, and a hunger with asserting his dominance over literally every person and nation in his life.
At the end of the day, I think the most telling portrait of Louis was when he cracked his cane over the back of one of his countless servants in Versailles, incensed over the humiliating loss of his illegitimate son on the battlefield to the Dutch. Any admirable personal traits in Louis XIV can’t justify the overwhelming casual cruelty, absurd vainglory, and violent exclusivist tendencies of the monarchic and national vision that Louis XIV inherited and actively expanded. In light of this, I think his clearly deeply-held piety and his regretful deathbed sighs about “loving war too much” ring hollow and hypocritical. The Sun King was the apotheosis and paragon of the ancien regime, and I find myself already rooting for the French Revolutionaries who, despite their bloody tendencies and excesses, at least pursued the establishment of a world I’d have any desire to live in.
October 13, 2025
I feel that I have an obligation to point out some of the glaringly offensive (at least to me) issues that this book has.
Before getting into that I want to explain some of my other issues with this book in general as pertains to just the general structure and writing style rather than the questionable choices the author made in terms of what history is left in and what was rather glaringly left out. For this and other reasons, I was not able to finish the last 140 ish pages of this book, so if some of those things are corrected later, I am unaware of them, and this review will reflect that.
Much of the history this book covers more in concern to important context of events, society at the time or why people would react to certain things the way the author describes is often left out and at least for me who can even read very confusing historical texts I had an incredibly difficult time getting through it at certain points. A lot of things are additionally out of chronological order, and the author seems to have a habit of jumping all over the place, which just makes a lot of the lack of context parts even worse.
I don't know if this book is intended for someone already familiar with this exact subject or meant to be introductory because I honestly can't see this book succeededing at least effectively at either. 400 pages is clearly far too short a space for the author to tell the story she wants to tell.
Now, I will go into the glaring and borderline offensive at best issues.
1. There is a segment around the 160-page mark where the author makes some really horrible choices about how she talks about the Romani people. And unlike the author i am making sure to use the name the Romani people have made extremely clear they want used. Unlike the author I'm not going to repeatedly use the slurs and then proceed to offer further clarifications as to what looks like the author is using the actual name only to keep using the slur.
The author in this segment proceeds to detail how Louis XIV decided to move against the Romani people of France by having the men kidnaped falsely arrested even without committing a crime and forced into hard labor or galley work often to work on major building projects in Paris. The author also describes Romani women being forced to shave their hair and if they refused they were forcibly exlied from France.
All things that of done in this era that wpuld immediately be compared to some form of cultural genocide. Now you'd think the author would treat this subject seriously or even use it as an opportunity to explore the dark side that discrimination in this period took.... well prepare to be extremely disappointed. Because within a page the author cannot stop herself from gushing about how amazing it is the Louis is working on building a hospital to take care of soldiers disabled by his wars. She then decides within that same segment only 2 pages after describing what's happening to the Romani people of France to then say that Louis is at his most philanthropic and entering a "gentler, quieter" period of his life.
It would be one thing if these events concerning the Romani people were happening in this period, but the author was unaware of it and therfore left it put of the book. The author however demonstrates that she knows exactly what is happening but then proceeds to blindly gush about how gentle Louis is while these things are being done.
I will not make the presumption that in the author personal life she has an issue towards Romani people however this segment so blindly and knowingly dismisses the suffering of the Romani people while chosing to glorify their oppressor and murderer that I am stumped to find any other explanation concerning that this author had clearly demonstrated her intelligence and ability to know better throughout this book.
If that is not the case and this educated and published author and her entire publication team that double checked and edited her work was somehow ignorant of the offensive Implications of this segment then I welcome and explanation and ability to retract this segment.
Because I have never seen something this blatant in a modern book in a very long time and feel more anger at the choices of a historical author than I have in a very very long time.
2. There is absolutely no mention of the horrors that took place durring the construction of Versailles. This is very possible in a later segment I honestly have no idea if it even would be due to how much this author tends to change focus and jump around in time.
However when so many people died durring the construction of Versailles that there isn't even recorded number (potentially due to the fact that either Louis or the nobility in charge of the project didn't care to write it down) It's an astonishing choice to talk about how neat Versailles is as a palace and cover much of the time that Louis is spending there to not even mention in a single sentence how the people of France suffered in its construction.
Especially when the author is repeatedly going out of the way to mention all the charities Louis is involved in and how he cares for his people so much.
In conclusion there is a very odd vibe that I get from this book. I don't want to call it a horrendously biased rendition of Louis life but I have no choice but to do so. The author simply seems to be so In love with Louis that she's unable to delve into him as a person and actually give time for the true darker sides of his personality as a monarch.
Louis XIV in my opinion bears the true and dubious responsibility of setting in place the system and palace that would eventually lead to nit only further death and horrors reaching beyond his own life but he created the system that would eventually cause the utter corruption and blindness of the French nobility to the needs of its people. This court system would bring France and much of Europe to its knees with the Shockwaves caused by the French Revolution.
The sun king himself may be so bright and often contradictory a figure that it's hard to see beyond the glory of his achievements. All of these are eclipsed by the needless blood shed in his lifetime, and by the way he trapped his descendants into a system, they would die never being able to escape from.
If you want to pick up a good book about this period I beg you not to pick up this one and find something that is actually interested in looking at the often ugly truths history hides behind its gilded glamor.
Before getting into that I want to explain some of my other issues with this book in general as pertains to just the general structure and writing style rather than the questionable choices the author made in terms of what history is left in and what was rather glaringly left out. For this and other reasons, I was not able to finish the last 140 ish pages of this book, so if some of those things are corrected later, I am unaware of them, and this review will reflect that.
Much of the history this book covers more in concern to important context of events, society at the time or why people would react to certain things the way the author describes is often left out and at least for me who can even read very confusing historical texts I had an incredibly difficult time getting through it at certain points. A lot of things are additionally out of chronological order, and the author seems to have a habit of jumping all over the place, which just makes a lot of the lack of context parts even worse.
I don't know if this book is intended for someone already familiar with this exact subject or meant to be introductory because I honestly can't see this book succeededing at least effectively at either. 400 pages is clearly far too short a space for the author to tell the story she wants to tell.
Now, I will go into the glaring and borderline offensive at best issues.
1. There is a segment around the 160-page mark where the author makes some really horrible choices about how she talks about the Romani people. And unlike the author i am making sure to use the name the Romani people have made extremely clear they want used. Unlike the author I'm not going to repeatedly use the slurs and then proceed to offer further clarifications as to what looks like the author is using the actual name only to keep using the slur.
The author in this segment proceeds to detail how Louis XIV decided to move against the Romani people of France by having the men kidnaped falsely arrested even without committing a crime and forced into hard labor or galley work often to work on major building projects in Paris. The author also describes Romani women being forced to shave their hair and if they refused they were forcibly exlied from France.
All things that of done in this era that wpuld immediately be compared to some form of cultural genocide. Now you'd think the author would treat this subject seriously or even use it as an opportunity to explore the dark side that discrimination in this period took.... well prepare to be extremely disappointed. Because within a page the author cannot stop herself from gushing about how amazing it is the Louis is working on building a hospital to take care of soldiers disabled by his wars. She then decides within that same segment only 2 pages after describing what's happening to the Romani people of France to then say that Louis is at his most philanthropic and entering a "gentler, quieter" period of his life.
It would be one thing if these events concerning the Romani people were happening in this period, but the author was unaware of it and therfore left it put of the book. The author however demonstrates that she knows exactly what is happening but then proceeds to blindly gush about how gentle Louis is while these things are being done.
I will not make the presumption that in the author personal life she has an issue towards Romani people however this segment so blindly and knowingly dismisses the suffering of the Romani people while chosing to glorify their oppressor and murderer that I am stumped to find any other explanation concerning that this author had clearly demonstrated her intelligence and ability to know better throughout this book.
If that is not the case and this educated and published author and her entire publication team that double checked and edited her work was somehow ignorant of the offensive Implications of this segment then I welcome and explanation and ability to retract this segment.
Because I have never seen something this blatant in a modern book in a very long time and feel more anger at the choices of a historical author than I have in a very very long time.
2. There is absolutely no mention of the horrors that took place durring the construction of Versailles. This is very possible in a later segment I honestly have no idea if it even would be due to how much this author tends to change focus and jump around in time.
However when so many people died durring the construction of Versailles that there isn't even recorded number (potentially due to the fact that either Louis or the nobility in charge of the project didn't care to write it down) It's an astonishing choice to talk about how neat Versailles is as a palace and cover much of the time that Louis is spending there to not even mention in a single sentence how the people of France suffered in its construction.
Especially when the author is repeatedly going out of the way to mention all the charities Louis is involved in and how he cares for his people so much.
In conclusion there is a very odd vibe that I get from this book. I don't want to call it a horrendously biased rendition of Louis life but I have no choice but to do so. The author simply seems to be so In love with Louis that she's unable to delve into him as a person and actually give time for the true darker sides of his personality as a monarch.
Louis XIV in my opinion bears the true and dubious responsibility of setting in place the system and palace that would eventually lead to nit only further death and horrors reaching beyond his own life but he created the system that would eventually cause the utter corruption and blindness of the French nobility to the needs of its people. This court system would bring France and much of Europe to its knees with the Shockwaves caused by the French Revolution.
The sun king himself may be so bright and often contradictory a figure that it's hard to see beyond the glory of his achievements. All of these are eclipsed by the needless blood shed in his lifetime, and by the way he trapped his descendants into a system, they would die never being able to escape from.
If you want to pick up a good book about this period I beg you not to pick up this one and find something that is actually interested in looking at the often ugly truths history hides behind its gilded glamor.
November 27, 2020
Why write another book about Louis XIV? There have to be hundreds upon hundreds out there. In fact the bibliography lists a bunch of them. The author doesn't share her motivation. No trove of newly discovered letters, no documents recently unclassified. Maybe she is on the faculty of one of those "publish or perish" colleges. This book deals primarily with court intrigue, who was scheming to get on Louis' good side, who was losing favor, who was being banished or admitted to the court, who was doing who: Gossip, rumors, innuendo. Wars, foreign affairs, and politics are dealt with summarily. Reminds me when my daughters were in high school, and the evening conversation centered around who gave who a dirty look, who was wearing what, who was seen flirting with who. I can imagine Mme. A whispering a salacious piece of gossip regarding Duc Philippe to Mme. B, who adds it to her diary as fact. Years later historian C, writing a biography of Duc Philippe, uses Mme. B's diary as a source and recounts the gossip as fact. Later yet, historian D writes a book about the period and uses historian C's book as a source, recounting the gossip as fact. Soon it's gospel. Did it actually happen? There's no corroborating evidence, not that there would be. If you're into this sort of thing, Louis XIV is for you. If you're thinking, as I was, this book is about world affairs of the period, look elsewhere.
February 16, 2023
Given the subject matter, I'm surprised by how easy this read was...and how strangely soap opera-ish the majority of Louis' life seems to be. In the midst of so much turmoil in the wider world (this period in England, for example, is both devastating and epic) the life of the Sun King seems almost anti-climatic by comparison. I can't say I was happy with the book just stopping , without any post-life analysis...but it was certainly an interesting journey up to that point.
April 22, 2022
Usually, 400 pages means you are getting a pretty in-depth treatment of the subject. Not here though and it’s not a bad thing!
Wilkinson is fantastic at working her way through Louis’s life without getting too bogged down. Since Louis decided to have a super long reign this book ends up being much more of a high-level summary than an in-depth biography. And much of Louis’s life had to do with his love life more than anything else, but Wilkinson still hits all the big events of his life as well. By the end, you do feel like you know Louis on personal level, even though that was absolutely impossible during his life. The dude took the whole “king” thing to another level.
Wilkinson is fantastic at working her way through Louis’s life without getting too bogged down. Since Louis decided to have a super long reign this book ends up being much more of a high-level summary than an in-depth biography. And much of Louis’s life had to do with his love life more than anything else, but Wilkinson still hits all the big events of his life as well. By the end, you do feel like you know Louis on personal level, even though that was absolutely impossible during his life. The dude took the whole “king” thing to another level.
May 7, 2019
Surprised at the focus on entertainment - more fun at the court than politics?
May 14, 2021
This book could've benefitted from a more likeable protagonist, though as it's a biography the author can't on this account. The entire work could be summed up by "Louis had a bunch of affairs, which we'll talk about in-depth, and really liked warfare, which we won't". Seriously, the disparity between the subjects is staggering. Some sections of this book will recount individual days in the king's life at court down to what he ate at a specific time; then entire campaigns will be brushed over in a handful of pages. The narrative was relatively difficult to follow, with the author focusing on one subject till its fruition, then jumping forward or backwards in time to pick up the next topic.
I think though that much of my difficulty with this book wasn't the author's fault, but rather the subject matter she chose. As previously mentioned, Louis is not a particularly likeable dude, at least in my estimation. More troubling for the narrative though is my own lack of familiarity with French. The lack of hard consonants makes it sound like a made-up language to me (which, to be fair, all languages are). As a result, it was very diffult to keep many of the characters straight, especially the ones on the outskirts of the story who might only appear two or three times by name in the text. It also didn't help that many of the characters had very similar names. Near the beginning of the biography we are introduced to three women with variants of the name "Mary" all of whom are VERY IMPORTANT to Louis' life. Shortly there after Louis gets involved with a woman names Louisse, which fortunately due to context is slightly confusing.
All this is to say, a lot of what made this book difficult to follow is that its actually based on real life, where people don't have a monopoly on their given name, and that it took place in a country which speaks a language I don't know. Whether these problems are consistent across all biographies of Louis I don't know. I can say I had similar issues with A Distant Mirror, by Barbara Tuchaman and The Three Musketeers by Dumas. I don't speak French, so half the words and all the names in all of these works (these last two I quite enjoyed) seem fake.
I think though that much of my difficulty with this book wasn't the author's fault, but rather the subject matter she chose. As previously mentioned, Louis is not a particularly likeable dude, at least in my estimation. More troubling for the narrative though is my own lack of familiarity with French. The lack of hard consonants makes it sound like a made-up language to me (which, to be fair, all languages are). As a result, it was very diffult to keep many of the characters straight, especially the ones on the outskirts of the story who might only appear two or three times by name in the text. It also didn't help that many of the characters had very similar names. Near the beginning of the biography we are introduced to three women with variants of the name "Mary" all of whom are VERY IMPORTANT to Louis' life. Shortly there after Louis gets involved with a woman names Louisse, which fortunately due to context is slightly confusing.
All this is to say, a lot of what made this book difficult to follow is that its actually based on real life, where people don't have a monopoly on their given name, and that it took place in a country which speaks a language I don't know. Whether these problems are consistent across all biographies of Louis I don't know. I can say I had similar issues with A Distant Mirror, by Barbara Tuchaman and The Three Musketeers by Dumas. I don't speak French, so half the words and all the names in all of these works (these last two I quite enjoyed) seem fake.
September 27, 2025
Louis XIV was one of Europe's longest reigning monarchs in history, spanning a 72 rule from 1643 to 1715 as an absolute monarch. His birth was considered a miracle when his parents had no surviving children & his early life was during a turbulent time in France where rebellion by the nobility, the Fronde. But as an adult, Louis took upon himself to rule France on his own and bring the country back into glory, as the previous decades were filled with too many rebellions and religious schisms that decimated the economy. His rule would, indeed, show France entering a golden age: cultural flourishment, military victories & political dominance. The Sun King himself showed to have some political suave, a high interest in the arts, and a high attraction for women. His reign would come with many achievements, criticisms & legends.
Josephine Wilkinson manages to make a relatively thorough biography of the Sun King from the context of his birth to his deathbed at 76. She fleshes out the mythos of the Sun King to show a man who was destined for greatness and managed to achieve a lot for his country. However, she also managed to dispel some of the mythos behind Louis' reign and acknowledge the flaws in his mindset, including the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which granted Huguenots freedom of worship & civil rights. I also feel like the portions about his numerous affairs were not fully fleshed out, nor were those women coming off more than recurring footnotes in this biography. The exception would be Madame de Maintenon, his secret second wife, whom instead of being married out of love, it was a match made out of religious duty it seemed. There are a few interesting tidbits found here and there, as the events, while documented in chronological order, does go back and forth occasionally in the timeline for context. Louis XIV: The Power and the Glory is still a well-written biography of the Sun King that presents a smooth, non-dry, but detailed biography of one of France's famous monarchs to have reigned.
Josephine Wilkinson manages to make a relatively thorough biography of the Sun King from the context of his birth to his deathbed at 76. She fleshes out the mythos of the Sun King to show a man who was destined for greatness and managed to achieve a lot for his country. However, she also managed to dispel some of the mythos behind Louis' reign and acknowledge the flaws in his mindset, including the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which granted Huguenots freedom of worship & civil rights. I also feel like the portions about his numerous affairs were not fully fleshed out, nor were those women coming off more than recurring footnotes in this biography. The exception would be Madame de Maintenon, his secret second wife, whom instead of being married out of love, it was a match made out of religious duty it seemed. There are a few interesting tidbits found here and there, as the events, while documented in chronological order, does go back and forth occasionally in the timeline for context. Louis XIV: The Power and the Glory is still a well-written biography of the Sun King that presents a smooth, non-dry, but detailed biography of one of France's famous monarchs to have reigned.
July 22, 2019
A book as magnificent as it’s subject, this is an account of Louis’ life that shows us all aspects of the Sun king: Louis Dieudonne, the prince terrified of rebellion, haunted by the Fronde, the controlling and power-hungry monarch whose continual hunt for glory prompted the building of glittering palaces and the magnificent gilded cage that was Versailles, the generous and light-hearted man who wanted to entertain and delight. Louis XIV is a king I really didn’t know too much about, to be honest - I knew more about his mistress Madame de Maintenon, his brother Philippe d’Orleans and the palace of Versailles than Louis, but this book was very well written (with copious endnotes that give a wealth of extra information), and complex situations are made much easier to understand and I came away with a much stronger sense of the man behind the myth. This is a book I would heartily recommend!
October 6, 2020
A favorable biography of the illustrious Louis XIV, which makes for an interesting read given that my reasons for disliking him include an utter lack of frugality, his role in Dumas' d'Artagnan romances, and his actions against the Huguenots (from whom I happen to be descended). Court events and Louis' prominent affairs are described in detail, with foreign policy and wars taking a backseat. Getting past the abundance of minor courtiers I'll never remember, it's an easy read for taking in the golden side of the Sun King, and I enjoyed filling in the gaps from what history I'd gleaned from The Three Musketeers and sequels.
December 5, 2023
A richly detailed biography of King Louis XIV with a strong focus on his family, mistresses and court at Versailles. Wilkinson provides a vivid portrait of Louis XIV as a person as well as his approach to kingship. Louis XIV's various European military campaigns are discussed but there is little analysis of the impact of Louis XIV's reign on the wider world. New France and Louisiana are summarized in a single paragraph and there is little mention of the French Caribbean. The biography ends abruptly with Louis XIV's death and does not discuss his legacy in the history of France and the former French Empire.
December 25, 2019
took a while to get thru - mostly enjoyed the personal life details and the descriptions of the numerous estates, castles, and homes, and the enormous wealth, and money spent on unnecessary and extravagant possessions and objects - and the tangled relationships among maids, princes, kings, soldiers, queens, ladies-in-waiting, countesses, and many other titled people of that time - almost impossible to believe that this is all true!
May 28, 2023
A lot of information about Louis XIV. Some information I feel was extra and didn't go with the narrative.
It could be a hard book to follow at some points.
A bit disappointed that the book ended the way it did. I was hoping for a bit of aftermath when the kind died. I guess will have to read other books about what happened next.
It could be a hard book to follow at some points.
A bit disappointed that the book ended the way it did. I was hoping for a bit of aftermath when the kind died. I guess will have to read other books about what happened next.
October 10, 2024
OK, OK, I was doing some research for a furry Three Musketeers story. There was some fascinating stuff in here and it did a good job of making historical figures who can often seem larger than life into humans. I had trouble keeping track of who everyone was though - not helped by the extraordinary number of mistresses the Sun King shed his rays on.
September 10, 2021
I am trying to bone up on French history in preparation for a COVID-delayed trip to France. I found this to be just what I was looking for. Lots of information given in a very interesting narrative.
December 19, 2021
Very informative read. It was quite interesting to meet all the various personalities that rotated through his court, and a good window into the different decisions and undertakings that filled his reign.
September 25, 2025
Covers the main events and is more of an overview since it spans his entire life, but I felt it sometimes got bogged down describing outfits and what was served at meals instead of detailing the events or people themselves.
July 2, 2020
I got about 100 pages into this book, when I totally lost interest. It was not the book for me.
August 29, 2022
We’ll written- but I expected more about history of France. Good to know all of that written in this book - Louis XIV and his court. Something is missing. 3 and 1/2 stars.
May 31, 2023
A flaccid portrayal of the Sun King. Nancy Mitford’s biography far more engaging and better written.
April 25, 2024
For such a modern release, it reads like it was written 100 years ago. I expect more from any biography written now.
March 28, 2025
An interesting look at one of the most famous of the kings of France.
#hoopla2025readingchallenge
#hoopla2025readingchallenge
August 16, 2025
maybe I was spoiled by recently reading Massie and Kotkin but I feel this was lacking the nuance I was looking for.
still it was a good read.
still it was a good read.
August 31, 2025
Excellent review of French aristocracy including interesting details of international complications with England.
October 29, 2025
Did not know a lot about Louis XIV. I do now. Interested in the topic, a great read. Enjoy!
March 1, 2021
👑👑👑👑
Good read. So glad I read this tome. Learned much about Louis and the time. He was brilliant, arrogant and charismatic and put France on the map. Well written and researched.
Good read. So glad I read this tome. Learned much about Louis and the time. He was brilliant, arrogant and charismatic and put France on the map. Well written and researched.
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