The Life Of Louis XVI

A thought-provoking, authoritative biography of one of history's most maligned rulers: France's Louis XVI The definitive contribution to our understanding of Louis XVI as a man and a monarch. --P. M. Jones, English Historical Review Monumental. . . . Scholars probing the mysteries of the late Old Regime and French Revolution will be working in its shadow for many years to come. --Thomas E. Kaiser, Journal of Modern History Louis XVI of France, who was guillotined in 1793 during the Revolution and Reign of Terror, is commonly portrayed in fiction and film either as a weak and stupid despot in thrall to his beautiful, shallow wife, Marie Antoinette, or as a cruel and treasonous tyrant. Historian John Hardman disputes both these versions in a fascinating new biography of the ill-fated monarch. Based in part on new scholarship that has emerged over the past two decades, Hardman's illuminating study describes a highly educated ruler who, though indecisive, possessed sharp political...