Louis XIV

by John B. Wolf

Book Overview

Although Louis XIV was a vitally important figure in European history, he has found no satisfactory biographer until now. The memorists, particularly Saint-Simon, have "fixed" the traditional image of Louis so firmly it is difficult to see him in any other light. John B. Wolf, challenging the myths and biases, has based this important study on Louis' own documents, his diaries, decrees, and hundreds of the king's letters from the archives at Vincennes...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393007537
• ISBN13: 9780393007534
• Release Date: July 1974
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 728 Pages
• Weight: 1.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A magnificent but flawed book

John B. Wolf was, during his lifetime, one of the best American historians of the age of Louis XIV. He worked long and hard producing this book which is magnificent on the early life of Louis XIV and his first twenty-five years as king and ruler from 1661 to 1685. However, the book begins to flag in the last thirty years of Louis XIV's life. That is why I gave it four stars. Wolf himself admitted that he could not continue his research on the latter part of the reign due to failing eyesight.Wolf's work on the first years of Louis XIV's life is splended, well-written, and even ground-breaking. However, this period has been plowed before. Wolf had many predecessors to guide him and help him form his argument. However, the last 30 years of Louis XIV's life (as well as the first 25 years of his successor's reign) are known as the black hole of French history. There have been many generalizations but not much published research into this period.In this respect, Wolf's biography is the best of the breed, but it is like so many other biographies of the greatest king of his age. It breaks no new ground on the latter part of the reign. The original review in the AHR pointed to a chapter where the footnotes do not match. One of the king's most important ministers is unmentioned. Major reforms undertaken at the end of the reign are also skipped. Instead, we are presented with the standard picture of a king in decline surrounded by sycophants, buffeted by circumstances beyond his control, and unable to do anyting to resist the changing world outside the court.This is a good book. Don't misunderstand me. It is just not as good as it could have been nor the definitive book on Louis XIV. That book has yet to be written.

A work of academic literary perfection

Anyone seeking to learn the whole picture about Louis XIV needs to pick up this book. John Wolf has left no stone unturned to deliver the entire story about the Sun King, from his conception and birth, a detailed account of his early life, and finally his triumphant reign.I selected this book on Louis out of half a dozen or so, and was quite happy I made such a selection. The depth of information, combined with a certain literary style, all culminates into an authoritative look at one of the world's most famous royals. For those who simply want a brief overview of Louis, I would advise you select another title, although the 700-page stature of this book would probably give you a hint to that effect. But for those seeking an unabridged biography and cultural interpretation of Louis XIV, this is the authoritative book to consult, and will prove both informative and entertaining for every history reader.

Mazarin's Stepson

This book about Louis XIV is an example of all of the good things that an academic biography can be. Wolf is literate, stylish, and keeps the pace going while placing Louis's life, and his frequently extreme actions, in their proper historic context. For instance, Louis's incessant warmaking arose not out of a sadistic urge to send as many armies to the slaughter as possible, but from the prevailing seventeenth-century philosophies of statecraft and diplomacy, as inculcated in him by his mentor (and de facto stepfather) Cardinal Mazarin. Louis's preference for absolute and personal rule was a reaction against the lawlessness of the "Fronde" revolts that occurred during his minority. His intolerance of the Protestant Hugenots was short-sighted, but his Catholicism was sincere - and he spent the last years of his life repenting his many extra-marital affairs. For all the glamor of his reign - the palaces, the splendid mistresses, the glorious campaigns and sieges - Louis's last years were punctuated by military disaster, and he (bizarrely) attributed this near-loss in the War of the Spanish Succession as God's punishment for his earlier adulteries. While, as Wolf establishes, the reign of Louis XIV was epoch making, he himself leaves us with few bon mots or merry sayings, and for all of the sparkle and glamor of the era, one suspects that Louis himself was a rather humourless man. But never dull.

Thoughtful and Detailed

I had to select a text on Louis XIV to read, and chose this one based on the fact that is simply appeared to be the most authoritative. My hunch turned out to be correct. This book is filled with surely close to every detail on the Sun King, yet provides such information in a context that makes for a very interesting read. Every aspect of the monarch's life is considered, every stereotype of his absolutist reign analyzed. John Wolf leaves no stone unturned in his quest to uncover the true Louis XIV and the environment that made him.

The best of any of the biographies of the Sun King

Louis XIV is one of those figures of history who attract a variety of biographers and who can blame them? He was king at 5 years, set France on the road to being the leading power in Europe, built Versailles, waged war against the "Grand Alliance" (led by Winston Churchill's ancestor) and died following the deaths of most of his family. Two contemporaries, his sister-in-law, the Duchess of Orleans and the Duc de Saint Simon wrote extensively about what it was like to live within the orbit of the sun king. The gossip-packed writings of both have served to create cottage industry (at least in the UK and America) in which Louis XIV is remembered as a great figure, with a great story. However, few dwell on any of Louis's achievements (other than the construction of Versailles). This is what sets Professor Wolf's book apart from the others, for it is Louis the soldier, not Louis the lover that is explored here. If one wants to understand the workings of 17th and 18th century France and indeed Europe, one can not do better than this outstanding book. Unfortunately, this book is not widely available and this is tragic, since it is one of the best works of scholarship in the 20th century. I would recommend, if one is seeking to understand the dynamics of France and Louis (and the two were much the same during the period in question), to seek out a second hand version of this book. While the text can at times be demanding, it is well worth the effort.