The Sun King (New York Review Books Classics)

A “devastatingly witty” biography of Louis XIV and the Court of Versailles—at once a historical record of late 17th- and early 18th-century France and a gossip-filled narrative of lovers and rivals, artists and warriors (The New York Times)The Sun King is a dazzling double portrait of Louis XIV and Versailles, the opulent court from which he ruled.

With characteristic élan, Nancy Mitford reconstructs the daily life of king and courtiers during France’ s golden age, offering vivid sketches of the architects, artists, and gardeners responsible for the creation of the most magnificent palace Europe had yet seen.