The Bourbons: The History of a Dynasty - Hardcover

J H Shennan

3.11

35 ratings by Goodreads

9781852855239: The Bourbons: The History of a Dynasty

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1852855231 ISBN 13: 9781852855239

Publisher: Hambledon Continuum, 2007

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The House of Bourbon is one of the most historically important European royal houses. Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the sixteenth century and by the eighteenth century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain and southern Italy - in fact the current king of Spain is a Bourbon monarch. This new history of the Bourbons is notable for being both comprehensive yet concise as it charts the rise, fall and rise again of the great French dynasty.

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Review:

mention- Book News Inc./ August 2007 "Although there are countless books on the personalities and events of the Bourbon era, there is no comprehensive survey of the Bourbons' entire reign (1589-1836). Few historians are more qualified to fill this void than Shennan. Any of his citations refer to seminal works he himself has written, eg. the Parliament of Paris. This is a most worthy addition to the "Dynasties" series and should be in every French history collection." --Sanford Lakoff "In his wonderfully readable and scintillating book, Shennan reveals how the dynasty alienated their subjects and squandered the great public goodwill displayed to the firt Bourbon king in 1589." THES, 27/07/07--Sanford Lakoff "Tes " "Shennan (emer., Lancaster Univ.), known for his books on early modern France, particularly his work on the Parlement of Paris, combines erudition and brevity in this overview of the Bourbon dynasty from Henry IV through Louis XVI...The result is a successful, if traditional, approach to the reigns of France's well-known monarchs, bound together by an overall theme: the conflict between proprietorial kingship (the king as owner of his realm and head of a family business, supported by family members and great nobles) and custodial kingship (the king as chief executive officer responsible to the nation, not privileges orders, and supported by a professional, nonvenal bureaucracy)...Overall, a skilful summary of the major themes in early modern kingship, designed for upper-division students...Summing Up: Recommended." D.C. Baxter, CHOICE, March 2008, Vol. 4545, No. 7 --Sanford Lakoff

Synopsis:

Henry IV, king of Gascony, became king of France after the murder of the last Valois in 1589. The Bourbon rulers who followed, including Louis XIV, the Sun King, and Louis XV, presided over a period when France was the leading military power in Europe and when its arts was dominant. Louis XIV's palace of Versailles epitomised classical French culture and celebrated the power of its creator. Frances autocratic government, under which the nobility were largely exempt from taxation, led in the eighteenth century to increasingly severe political and financial strains. The French Revolution of 1789 brought about the fall of the Bourbon monarchy and to the execution of Louis XVI and his wife, Marie-Antoinette. In exile under Napoleon, the Bourbons returned to power for fifteen years after 1815, but never fully re-established their authority.

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