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 The Splendid Century Life in the France of Louis XIV
W. H. Lewis
Pleasures and palaces are, of course, an
enormously entertaining part of this vivid account of France under Louis XIV.
More important is the author’s exploration of the political, economic, social,
and artistic forces that developed during the long reign of the Sun-King. It was
an age of contradictions and compromises and high taxes and formal manners. And
to the day he died Louis XIV ate with his fingers and acted like God. The
opening account of Louis XIV’s private life and loves sets the pace for this
witty, provocative account of a century that, like our own, was a time of
transition, dissatisfaction, and progress. This was the age of Molière, Racine,
Corneille . . . the age of the salons and the graceful correspondents. And also
an age that sent thousands of Huguenots to the galleys, the notorious death
ships that served as seventeenth-century concentration camps. $16.50 list, 306 pages 10-digit ISBN: 0-88133-921-0 13-digit ISBN: 978-0-88133-921-5 © 1953 “Not only a highly pleasurable, lucid read, but also an incredibly informative and satisfying introduction. Lewis deftly moved from court to country, king to commoner, illuminating the best and the worst of Louis XIV’s France. Along the way, he gives a tantalizing glimpse into the underlying tensions within French society that would later serve as the impetus for the French Revolution.” — Cardis Murray, College of St. Rose “This book is the kind of modern scholarship in history which makes reading a delight. A fascinating book, excellently documented and as readable as it is authentic.” —Book-of-the-Month Club News “. . . crowded with information, with fascinating specific facts and with highly amusing anecdotes. Witty, judicious and extremely well written, The Splendid Century is social history at its best.” —The New York Times Table of Contents
1. The King |