Louis XIV
Louis XIV
By François Bluche (1925- )
Professor of History, University of Paris-Nanterre
London : Franklin Watts, 1991
ISBN 0531151123 / 978-0531151129
Reign: 1643 - 1715
French appellation: The Sun King
Concurrent English Monarchs:
Charles I (1625 - 1649)
Charles II (1649 - 1685)
James II (1685 - 1688
William II (1688 - 1702)
&
Mary II (1688 - 1694)
Anne (1702 - 1707)
George I (1707 - 1727)
Louis XIV
By John B. Wolf (1907 - 1996)
Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois, Chicago Circle
New York : Norton, 1968
ISBN 0393007537 / 978-0393007534
(1974 paperback printing)
Louis XIV
By Anthony Levi (1929 - 2004)
Professor of French language and literature, University of St Andrews
London : Constable, 2003
ISBN 1841194255 / 9781841194257
Louis XIV
By Vincent Cronin (1924 - 2011)
First published 1964.
Current printing:
London : Harvill Press, 2011
ISBN 1846555582 / 9781846555589
Louis XIV: A Royal Life
By Olivier Bernier (1941- )
New York : Doubleday, 1991
ISBN 0385197853 / 978-0385197854
Louis XIV
By Ian Dunlop
New York : St. Martins Press, 2017
ISBN 9780312261962
Louis XIV
By Dr. Richard Wilkinson
Abingdon, UK : Routledge, 2007
ISBN 0415358167 / 9780415358163
Louis XIV: the real Sun King
By Jules Harper and Aurora von Goeth
Barnsley, UK : Pen & Sword, 2018
ISBN 9781526726391
Louis XIV: The Real King of Versailles
By Josephine Wilkinson
Stroud, UK : Amberley, 2019
ISBN 9781445691732
King of the World: The Life of Louis XIV
By Philip Mansel (1951- )
London : Allen Lane, 2019
ISBN 9781846145995
Commentary on these books
The book by François Bluche, originally published in French in 1986, has been available in English since 1991. Bluche is a specalist in the Ancien Régime.
The book by John B. Wolf is a standard text in English, but unfortunately is weak in the second half of the account of the life of Louis. The author’s health was failing and the work wasn’t completed to the standard the author desired.
The Anthony Levi book is characterised by his idiosyncratic prose, which makes or breaks the book for the reader. It is not a work of a history professor rather an language professor and some commentators have reported faults in some of the facts presented in the book.
Vincent Cronin was a prolific popular historian and his work in this biography is still well regarded fifty years after the publication of his biography of Louis. It is a concise account of the long reign of this king, but all the more direct and clear for that. Perhaps this is a good place to start a study of Louis XIV in English.
Olivier Bernier was born in the United States of French parents and has written several well-received popular histories including Louis XIV and Louis XV.
Richard Wilkinson’s book is part of the Routledge Historical Biographies series which pitches it’s books at the secondary school or undergraduate student, or anyone who wants a concise account of the subject. Dr. Wilkinson is a former teacher and secondary school Principal.
The Ian Dunlop book is reviewed as a popular history, recounting other narratives rather than an examination of the sources (which are in French).
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The Jules Harper and Aurora von Goeth book is more of a resume of his life than a biography. At 140 pages it doesn't pretend to be anything else.
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The Josephine Wilkinson book is described as ‘fresh’, revisionist’ ‘incisive’ and ‘rigorous’ by the publicists.
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The Philip Mansel book is the first serious biography of Louis since the advent of the TV series Versailles made Louis a sought-after subject for readers. It is reviewed on bookseller sites as a serious biography but with an eye for the non-academic reader, and at over 600 pages can claim to be highly detailed.
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There are a great many other titles examining the era of the Sun King, including some 19th Century biographies of Louis XIV which have been made available in modern editions as ebooks. The above however specifically are accounts of the life of Louis rather than his place in European history, his wars or the government of France, which is the focus of other books not in this already lengthy list.