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[caption id="attachment_9457" align="aligncenter" width="331"] MANSEL Philip, King of the World : The Life of Louis XIV, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 2020, 608 p.[/caption]Présentation de l'éditeur :Louis XIV was a man in pursuit of glory. Not content to be the ruler of a world power, he wanted the power to rule the world. And, for a time, he came tantalizingly close. Philip Mansel’s King of the World is the most comprehensive and up-to-date biography in English of this hypnotic, flawed figure  who continues to captivate our attention. This lively work takes Louis outside Versailles and shows the true extent of his global ambitions, with stops in London, Madrid, Constantinople, Bangkok, and beyond. We witness the importance of his alliance with the Spanish crown and his success in securing Spain for his descendants, his enmity with England, and his relations with the rest of Europe, as well as Asia, Africa, and the Americas. We also see the king’s effect on the two great global diasporas of Huguenots and Jacobites, and their influence on him as he failed in his brutal attempts to stop Protestants from leaving France. Along the way, we are enveloped in the splendor of Louis’s court and the fascinating cast of characters who prostrated and plotted within it.King of the World is exceptionally researched, drawing on international archives and incorporating sources who knew the king intimately, including the newly released correspondence of Louis’s second wife, Madame de Maintenon. Mansel’s narrative flair is a perfect match for this grand figure, and he brings the Sun King’s world to vivid life. This is a global biography of a global king, whose power was extensive but also limited by laws and circumstances, and whose interests and ambitions stretched far beyond his homeland. Through it all, we watch Louis XIV progressively turn from a dazzling, attractive young king to a belligerent reactionary who sets France on the path to 1789. It is a convincing and compelling portrait of a man who, three hundred years after his death, still epitomizes the idea of le grand monarque.Philip Mansel is one of Britain’s leading historians of France and the Middle East. He is the author of many books, including, most recently, Aleppo: The Rise and Fall of Syria’s Great Merchant City; The Eagle in Splendour: Inside the Court of Napoleon; and Levant: Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean.Table des matièresList of IllustrationsMapsFamily TreesIntroduction: A Thousand Years of France1  The Gift of God2  Our Good City of Paris3  The Struggle for France4  M. le Cardinal5  The Power of Queens6  Fouquet’s Fall7  Making France Work8  The Pursuit of Immortality: The Louvre and Versailles9  Conquering Flanders10  Fighting the Netherlands11  To the Rhine12  The King Outdoors13  Inside Versailles14  Inside Louis XIV15  The Global King: From the Mississippi to the Mekong16  The Huguenot Cataclysm17  England Changes Sides: The Flights of King James18  France against Europe19  Spain Changes Sides: The Accession of King Philip20  The Triumph of Europe21  Towards the Precipice22  Nemesis Averted23  Funeral Games24  The Shadow of VersaillesPlus d’informations sur le site de l’éditeur.&#160;