Louis XIV and Twenty Million Frenchmen: A New Approach, Exploring the Interrelationship Between the People of a Country and the Power of Its King

by Pierre Goubert

Louis XIV is one of history’s most notorious rulers. Ruling for three quarters of a century, the King of France had the longest reign in European history, and the effects of his rule would create the conditions that would lead to the French Revolution. Written by an authority on 17th century Europe, Pierre Goubert not only outlines the life the famous “Sun King." but the millions of subjects under his rule, and the effects his choices had on the them.

Praise for Louis XIV and Twenty Million Frenchman

“ . . . It is safe to recommend the work as the best book available on the subject for the educated layman.”— Kirkus Reviews
 
“This masterful work . . . should serve a generation of student and general readers as the essential introduction to the France of Louis XIV.”— The American Historical Review

“In this field M. Goubert is a past master, and his subtle portrayal of the great social trends of the age deserves to be widely read.”— Times Literary Supplement

Genres: History, France, Nonfiction, Biography, European History, 18th Century

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

Reviews

[Dan Gorman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid brief history of Louis XIV. Pierre Goubert came out of the French Annales School of history, a group of thinkers that wanted to use statistics, economics, and other social sciences to write "total histories" of their subjects. Typically, these subjects involved commoners and regular people, so Goubert's choice to write about a famous king is unusual for an Annales man. But Goubert makes a good point that kings and their people must be understood in relation to each other. The book describes how Louis, the supposed "Sun King," continually hit a brick wall when pursuing his goals. The soil produced several bad harvests and famines during his fifty-year reign. His military aims were quashed by his strong neighbor, the Netherlands, which eventually united with England under King William of Orange. Those wars drove up France's national debt and caused taxes to balloon, a bad combination with famine. Louis supported the arts, but exercised strict censorship. He sought to control everything, but became dependent on bureaucrats to keep the country running. The cumulative point of the book is to banish any portrait of the Sun King that excludes these problems.

I enjoyed the book, but Goubert pivots abruptly from diplomacy to economics, so he never reconciles the Annales and traditional biographical segments in a seamless way. There aren't as many statistics as I expected, which was a weakness of the book. I wanted a lot of examples showing how economic chaos limited Louis's power. The lack of footnotes makes it hard to understand the data Goubert reviewed. The popular-history format of the book makes for good reading, but not ideal scholarship.

[A.B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author, Pierre Goubert, seems a bit caddy and pessimistic when you first read this book. The first pages give you an indication of it right off the bat. However this is a very good book and does a rather great job of pulling together the France of the time and the man who ruled it. You do have to know a lot about the time as there are no introductions to the rest of Europe or those who went before Louis XIV that are mentioned many times. And the author assumes the reader will know what he is talking about when he brings up French political history, as well as that of Spain, England, Holland, and most importantly, the Empire. Luckly I just finished reading The Age of Religious Wars, 1559-1715 so i was moderately prepared for the references to Cromwell, William, and Leopold. I suggest this book to those who are really interested in the time and particularly in France's history. But, you do have to come in with a fair bit of prior knowledge. You have been warned.

[Andrés · Rating 3 out of 5]

As social histories go, a decent one. The translation at times is awkward, though not excessively so. Social history is innately boring since it deals with the common man, but the author makes a sometimes successful attempt to connect the mass of men with the life and politics of Louis XIV. One is given the impression that the king was not nearly so great and sun-like as we are sometimes led to believe.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

This study serves an an excellent introduction to the reign of Louis XIV. It is broad in scope and makes French research available to English readers. In this translation of a study originally published in French in 1966, Professor Pierre Goubert, who is sympathetic to the monarch, achieves a successful balance in his discussion of royal politics, diplomacy and war, as well as social and economic history. The study includes as useful chronology, but lacks footnotes.

[Math le maudit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un ouvrage qui a fait date dans le domaine de l' étude du règne de Louis XIV. Abordant tous les aspects de la société française durant son long règne (1643-1715), il est encore à ce jour considéré comme un incontournable.
Facile d' accès, c' est un livre tout public, que du bonheur... A condition d' aimer l' Histoire bien sûr...

[Chris Kalbach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview but the translation is a little choppy and hard to understand at times. Has a
Focus in the wars and skips ideologies of the time.

[Jacob Folker · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent portrait of The Great King that is scholarly yet readable. This is how history is to be written.

[Aren Lerner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engagingly written, but clearly intended for a French audience - i.e., the author doesn't always use full names or explain events in detail that makes it a bit difficult to follow.