The Sun King [Paperback]

The Sun Kingis 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 Kingrestores a distant glittering century to vibrant life.“Irreverently lifts the skirts of the dolls of Versailles and rummages about underneath, exposing one gem of irresistible detail after another. . . . A glorious tribute to a glorious age.” —The Irish Times

“[Mitford’s] interest is focused on the human beings whose hopes, frustrations, and tragedies are hidden behind the stiff brocade of the period. The splendid century had its seamy side, and her racy narrative alternates between the glory and the grime, the ermine and the vermin.” —The New York Times

“History, like the kingdom of heaven, has many mansions, Nancy Mitford’s being, I suggest, a ravishingly pretty one, where anyone would be happy to spend time—and many have.”  — Antonia Fraser

“Nancy Mitford excels in depicting both the brilliant romantic showcase and the recessed world of power. . . . No historian writing in English has given a better pen-picture of Versailles in its heyday.” —Time

“A brilliantson et lumièreperformance.&lƒ1