The Sun King is a dazzling double portrait of Louis XIV and Versailles, the opulent court from which he ruled. With characteristic élan, Nancy Mitford reconstructs the daily life of king and courtiers during France’s golden age, offering vivid sketches of the architects, artists, and gardeners responsible for the creation of the most magnificent palace Europe had yet seen. Mitford lays bare the complex and deadly intrigues in the stateroom and the no less high-stakes power struggles in the bedroom. At the center of it all is Louis XIV himself, the demanding, mercurial, but remarkably resilient sovereign who guided France through nearly three quarters of the Grand Siècle.
Brimming with sumptuous detail and delicious bons mots, and written in a witty, conversational style, The Sun King restores a distant glittering century to vibrant life.
- ISBN10 1590174917
- ISBN13 9781590174913
- Publish Date 8 May 2012 (first published October 1969)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint The New York Review of Books, Inc
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 272
- Language English
- URL https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781590174913