{"product_id":"the-sun-king-louis-xiv-at-versailles-9781590174913","title":"The Sun King: Louis XIV at Versailles","description":"\u003cb\u003eA \"devastatingly witty\" biography of Louis XIV and the Court of Versailles--at once a historical record of late 17th- and early 18th-century France and a gossip-filled narrative of lovers and rivals, artists and warriors (\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Sun King\u003c\/i\u003e is a dazzling double portrait of Louis XIV and Versailles, the opulent court from which he ruled. With characteristic ?lan, 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 Si?cle. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBrimming with sumptuous detail and delicious bons mots, and written in a witty, conversational style, \u003ci\u003eThe Sun King\u003c\/i\u003e restores a distant glittering century to vibrant life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNancy Mitford (1904-1973)\u003c\/b\u003e was born into the British aristocracy and, by her own account, brought up without an education, except in riding and French. She managed a London bookshop during the Second World War, then moved to Paris, where she began to write her celebrated and successful novels, among them \u003ci\u003eThe Pursuit of Love\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eLove in a Cold Climate\u003c\/i\u003e, about the foibles of the English upper class. Nancy Mitford was also the author of four biographies: \u003ci\u003eMadame de Pompadour\u003c\/i\u003e (1954; available as an NYRB Classic), \u003ci\u003eVoltaire in Love\u003c\/i\u003e (1957), \u003ci\u003e The Sun King\u003c\/i\u003e (1966), and \u003ci\u003eFrederick the Great\u003c\/i\u003e (1970). In 1967 Mitford moved from Paris to Versailles, where she lived until her death from Hodgkin's disease. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003ePhilip Mansel\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of six books dealing with French history, including a life of Louis XVIII (1981), \u003ci\u003eThe Court of France, 1789-1830\u003c\/i\u003e (1989) and \u003ci\u003eParis Between Empires\u003c\/i\u003e (2001). He is currently at work on a life of Louis XIV.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"New York Review of Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50901409890578,"sku":"9781590174913","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_828279d1-e35b-4068-a227-1d6409759b74.jpg?v=1738425132","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-sun-king-louis-xiv-at-versailles-9781590174913","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}