The Life of Louis XVI / John Hardman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hardman, John, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Louis XVI, King of France, 1754-1793.

Louis.

France--Kings and rulers--Biography.

France.

France--History--Louis XVI, 1774-1793.

France--History--Revolution, 1789-1799.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (529 p.)

Place of Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, [2016]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

A thought-provoking, authoritative biography of one of history's most maligned rulers 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 insight and a talent for foreign policy; who often saw the dangers ahead but could not or would not prevent them; and whose great misfortune was to be caught in the violent center of a major turning point in history. Hardman's dramatic reassessment of the reign of Louis XVI sheds a bold new light on the man, his actions, his world, and his policies, including the king's support for America's War of Independence, the intricate workings of his court, the disastrous Diamond Necklace Affair, and Louis's famous dash to Varennes.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

List of Illustrations and Maps

Preface

1. A Dark and Difficult Childhood

2. Youth on the Throne

3. The Bright Beginning, 1774-76

4. Drift Towards War, 1776-78

5. American Liberty and Royal Debt, 1778-82

6. The Embarrassments of Peace, 1783-85

7. Unravelling, 1785-86

8. Royal Revolution: The Assembly of Notables of 1787

9. The Road to the Estates- General, May 1787-May 1789

10. The Silent King and the Third Estate

11. The Invasion of a Palace

12. The Revolution Caricatures Itself, October 1789-June 1791

13. The Flight to Montmédy

14. Playing by the Book of the Constitution, 13 September 1791- 10 August 1792

15. The Prisoner in the Temple

Genealogies

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 29. Feb 2020)

ISBN:

0-300-22165-7

OCLC:

948286621