Henry IV: king of France

by David Buisseret

Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso

Genres: History, Biography, France

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[Jan-Maat]

This is a great book for a student coming to the topic for the first time. It is clear, laid out chronologically and keeps to the politics. The paragraphs cry out for a highlighter pen. And I'll confess it was helpful to me getting ready for A-level History at school.

The downside of this is it isn't thematic, doesn't get into broader questions about culture, society or the structures of political rivalries in France in this period when a centralising monarchy is emerging.

There is a chapter about Henry IV's life as king in which we learn that in those dark days before tea and coffee drinking became widespread that at breakfast time Henry would drink beef stock instead - this answered the great perplexing question of just what did people drink for breakfast in the days before coffee if they didn't fancy beer. More importantly Henry IV apparently didn't bathe but would just wash his hands and face in the morning. Perhaps those were the only parts of his body that were ever regularly cleaned. A bit of grime being no hindrance to a successful political career at the time. Unfortunately his protective coating of grease and dirt failed to save him from an assassin's knife.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of a tough slog, especially if you don't understand much French (many quotes in here, apparently quite famous, but they were new to me) but really interesting if you stick to it. I really learned a lot about the the hows & whys of 16th & 17th century French politics & culture, along with a bit of econ analysis on what made it all work. It mentioned in the intro that Henry IV was a complex character in a very confusing time, and sometimes I felt a bit lost in the details of all the very French double dealing, switching sides, betrayals, etc, but Henry's ability to come out on top repeatedly was all the more remarkable for all that. Next, I'm starting a bio on his heir, Louis XIII, and a novel by Dumas, and I'll watch the BBC movie about the Three Musketeers with my wife.

[Deirdre · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could only have been written by a man and a man of a certain type, one given to war games and trainspotting. Henri IV is one of the most fascinating monarchs in history and yet hardly any of that comes across in this biography. If you are interested in a load of battles, how many troops were on each side, how they were disposed on the battlefield, if you are interested in history which is a catalogue of events or as Alan Bennett had one of his characters define it "Just one fucking thing after another." The History Boys: A Play, then you'll suck this up.

I'm still reading this book so maybe I'm being unfair and it'll improve but the author does, in his introduction, pretty much declare unapologetically that this is what he has written.