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Louis XIV and the Zenith of the French Monarchy
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins
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Publisher's summary
Louis XIV, known as the Grand Monarch, or the Sun King, was a sovereign of the House of Bourbon who reigned as King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years is the longest recorded of any monarch in European history. In the age of absolutism, Louis XIV's France was the leader in the growing centralization of power.
Louis began his personal rule of France in 1661, after the death of his chief minister, the Italian Cardinal Mazarin. An adherent of the concept of the divine right of kings, Louis continued his predecessors' work of creating a centralized state governed from the capital. He sought to eliminate the remnants of feudalism persisting in parts of France and, by compelling many members of the nobility to inhabit his lavish Palace of Versailles, succeeded in pacifying the aristocracy, many members of which had participated in the Fronde rebellion during Louis' minority. By these means Louis XIV became one of the most powerful French monarchs of all time, consolidating a system of absolute monarchical rule that endured until the French Revolution.
Louis encouraged and benefited from the work of prominent political, military, and cultural figures such as Mazarin, Colbert, Louvois, the Grand Condé, Turenne, and Vauban, as well as dazzling artists like Molière, Racine, Corneille, La Fontaine, Lully, Rameau, Couperin, Marais, Le Brun, Rigaud, Bossuet, Le Vau, Mansart, Charles and Claude Perrault, Lorrain, Poussin, Le Nôtre, and the brilliant mathematician Descartes.
During Louis' reign, France was the leading European power, and it fought three major wars: the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the League of Augsburg, and the War of the Spanish Succession. There were also two lesser conflicts: the War of Devolution and the War of the Reunions. Warfare defined the foreign policy of Louis XIV, and his personality shaped his approach. Impelled by a mix of commerce, revenge, and pique, Louis sensed that warfare was the ideal way to enhance his glory. In peacetime he concentrated on preparing for the next war. He taught his diplomats that their job was to create tactical and strategic advantages for the French military. Under the leadership of Louis XIV, France reached a pinnacle of military, political, economic, and artistic superiority which was the wonder of the world.
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Napoleon
- Soldier of Destiny
- By: Michael Broers
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 20 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Written with great energy and authority - and using the newly available personal archives of Napoleon himself - the first volume of a majestic two-part biography of the great French emperor and conqueror.
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Clarity
- By Tad Davis on 03-25-19
By: Michael Broers
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Our First Revolution
- The Remarkable British Upheaval That Inspired America's Founding Fathers (Unabr.)
- By: Michael Barone
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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The ideals of freedom and individual rights that inspired America's Founding Fathers did not spring from a vacuum. Along with many other defining principles of our national character, they can be traced directly back to one of the most pivotal events in British history: the late-17th-century uprising known as the Glorious Revolution.
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Excellent Recap of a Forgotten Event
- By rollcall40 on 01-02-08
By: Michael Barone
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Scipio Africanus
- Greater Than Napoleon
- By: B.H. Liddell Hart
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Scipio Africanus (236-183 BC) was one of the most exciting and dynamic leaders in history. As commander, he never lost a battle. Yet it is his adversary, Hannibal, who has lived on in public memory. As B. H. Liddell Hart writes, "Scipio's battles are richer in stratagems and ruses - many still feasible today - than those of any other commander in history." Any military enthusiast or historian will find this to be an absorbing, gripping portrait.
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Excellent performance of a tough script.
- By A. Johnson on 12-23-19
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The Innocence of Kaiser Wilhelm II
- And the First World War
- By: Christina Croft
- Narrated by: Jack Wynters
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Almost a century after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, Kaiser Wilhelm II is still viewed as either a warmonger or a madman, as the hundred-year-old propaganda posters remain fixed in the general consciousness. Was he, though, truly responsible for the catastrophe of the First World War, or was he in fact a convenient scapegoat, blamed for a conflict which he desperately tried to avoid?
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Really make you re-think what your were told
- By Andrew Marsh on 11-09-18
By: Christina Croft
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Sicily
- An Island at the Crossroads of History
- By: John Julius Norwich
- Narrated by: Michael Healy
- Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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"Sicily," said Goethe, "is the key to everything." It is the largest island in the Mediterranean, the stepping-stone between Europe and Africa, the link between the Latin West and the Greek East. Sicily's strategic location has tempted Roman emperors, French princes, and Spanish kings. The subsequent struggles to conquer and keep it have played crucial roles in the rise and fall of the world's most powerful dynasties.
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DISAPPOINTING
- By SRdto on 11-22-16
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Scandinavia
- A History
- By: Ewan Butler
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, award-winning historian Ewan Butler writes, struggled through unions and separations with both outsiders and each other, developing their own personalities and languages yet retaining their ancient connections.
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Excellent History of Scandinavia after the Vikings
- By Arthur on 05-05-17
By: Ewan Butler
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The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution and the Fate of the Empire
- The Lewis Walpole Series in Eighteenth-Century Culture and History
- By: Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 21 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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The loss of America was a stunning and unexpected defeat for the powerful British Empire. Common wisdom has held that incompetent military commanders and political leaders in Britain must have been to blame, but were they? This intriguing audiobook makes a different argument. Weaving together the personal stories of ten prominent men historian Andrew O'Shaughnessy dispels the incompetence myth and uncovers the real reasons that rebellious colonials were able to achieve victory.
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It didn't lose me
- By Matt on 04-28-15
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Winston Churchill
- By: John Keegan
- Narrated by: Richard Matthews
- Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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The eminent historian John Keegan charts Churchill's career, following his steadfast leadership during the catastrophic events of World War II while England was dangerously poised on the brink of collapse. With wonderful eloquence, Keegan illuminates Churchill's incredible strength during this crucial moment in history and his unshakable belief that democracy would always prevail.
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A good intro/summary
- By Sabrina on 01-07-06
By: John Keegan
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The Borgias
- The Hidden History
- By: G. J. Meyer
- Narrated by: Enn Reitel
- Length: 19 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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The startling truth behind one of the most notorious dynasties in history is revealed in a remarkable new account by the acclaimed author of The Tudors and A World Undone. Sweeping aside the gossip, slander, and distortion that have shrouded the Borgias for centuries, G. J. Meyer offers an unprecedented portrait of the infamous Renaissance family and their storied milieu.
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Marvelous !
- By Cinders on 08-02-13
By: G. J. Meyer
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Francis I
- The Maker of Modern France
- By: Leonie Frieda
- Narrated by: Carole Boyd
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Catherine de Medici's father-in-law, King Francis of France, was the perfect Renaissance knight, the movement's exemplar and its Gallic interpreter. An aesthete, diplomat par excellence, and contemporary of Machiavelli, Francis was the founder of modern France, whose sheer force of will and personality molded his kingdom into the first European superpower. Arguably the man who introduced the Renaissance to France, Francis was also the prototype Frenchman - a national identity was modeled on his character.
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Rekindling salamandrine fires...
- By Adeliese Baumann on 09-29-18
By: Leonie Frieda
What listeners say about Louis XIV and the Zenith of the French Monarchy
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Angela Marie Beam
- 12-01-23
Very nice but before you listen…
While a rather good walk through of the life of Louie 14th. The reader will be lost without understanding the history of the time. With that knowledge acquired beforehand. It makes for a more graspable listen. Listen or read a book or two on “The Thirty Years War” before giving this one a go. As always, superbly narrated by Charlton Griffon.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Matthew M Barnes
- 12-17-17
Where to start
I suggest listening first to The Thirty Years War by Wegwood to gain the right background for this book.
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9 people found this helpful
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- AleksanderJC
- 10-13-23
Need more Louis XIV audio
A fascinating life, described here brilliantly and narrated wonderfully. I wish there were more audiobooks of Louis XIV on audible
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- Paddy Gray
- 12-17-22
Wonder if it is better to read
This book is not at all entertaining and seems like it was written as a formality. Very boring, narration is horrible.
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- Lorie Christian
- 12-07-18
Editing Problems?
There are quite a few places where the narrator repeats the same line. I do not know if this was an editing problem or the narrator would just read the same line twice and no one caught it.
This was more of a telling of Richileau's influence on Louis XIV in religion, war and/or diplomacy instead of a look at the monarchy and the court practices inside Versailles and the effects on the rest of France at the time -- how it influenced French culture and, in particular, literature (i.e. Moliere's plays).
It is told in a more narrative fashion, which makes the repetition more noticeable, and the timeline isn't as easy to follow in audio format as maybe it would be in paper.
I was looking for more of why this particular time in the Fench monarchy IS considered the zenith and how it shaped France and other governments going forward.
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4 people found this helpful