The Man Who Outshone the Sun King: A Life of Gleaming Opulence and Wretched Reversal in the Reign of Louis XIV - Hardcover

Drazin, Charles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0306817578 ISBN 13: 9780306817571

Publisher: Da Capo Press Inc, 2008

Synopsis

Late in 1664, the musketeer DArtagnan rode beside a carriage as it left Paris, carrying his friend Nicolas Fouquet to life imprisonment in a cell next door to the Man in the Iron Mask. From a glorious zenith as Louis XIVs first minister and Cardinal Mazarins protg and eventual protector; builder of the stunningly opulent chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte; and patron of the arts and lover of beautiful women, Fouquet had suffered a wretched decline. The story of the rise and fall of Nicolas Fouquet is both compelling and unforgettable. Charles Drazins beautifully written and vivid account brings to life Fouquets remarkable gains in fortune, influence, and power, as well as the lavish and hazardous world of the royal court in seventeenth-century France.

About this title

Review:

Library Journal, 11/1/08
“Long-neglected Frenchman Nicholas Foucquet has finally found a sympathetic chronicler of his fascinating and influential life...Drazin's characterization of Foucquet's fate provides graphic insight...[Written] with the general reader in mind.”

Santa Fe New Mexican, 3/13/09
“Drazin’s writing is...competent and readable...This is an informative book.”

HistoryWire.com, 7/11/09
“The gripping saga of Louis's first minister, builder of the opulent chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte, patron of the arts, and lover of beautiful women, but also the man who ended up convicted of embezzlement and treason...Graceful prose.”

Reference and Research Book News, August 2009
“Reveal[s] Foucquet's colorful and extravagant life and the King's envy, jealousy and eventual betrayal.”

About the Author:

Charles Drazin edited the literary journals of John Fowles. He teaches film studies at the University of London and has written numerous books about film. He lives in London.

About this edition

• Publisher: Da Capo Press Inc
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0306817578
• ISBN 13: 9780306817571
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352