King of the World

The first full biography of the great Sun King of France for twenty years and winner of the Franco-British Society Book Prize.

Louis XIV dominated his age. He extended France's frontiers into the Netherlands and Germany, and established colonies overseas. The stupendous palace he built at Versailles became the envy of monarchs all over Europe. In his palaces, Louis encouraged dancing, hunting, music, and gambling. He loved conversation, especially with women—the power of women in Louis's life and reign is a particular theme of this book.

Louis was obsessed with the details of government, but the cost of building palaces and waging continuous wars devastated the country's finances and helped set it on the path to revolution. Nevertheless, by his death, he had helped make his grandson king of Spain, where his descendants still reign, and France had taken essentially the shape it has today.

King of the World is the most comprehensive and up-to-date biography of this hypnotic, flawed figure in English. It draws on all the latest research to paint a convincing and compelling portrait of a man who, three hundred years after his death, still epitomises the idea of le grand monarque.