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Henri IV
Paris. 22 cm. 1070 p. Encuadernación en tapa blanda de editorial ilustrada. Idioma francés .. Este libro es de segunda mano y tiene o puede tener marcas y señales de su anterior propietario.
1103 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
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January 10, 2026
My main problem with this book is that it pretends to be a comprehensive biography of Henri IV, when in fact it has too many dubious value judgments, unsubstantiated assumptions, and rumors presented as plausible when in fact they have long been disproven (for example, Agrippa’s tale about Esther Imbert).
I can’t say that the author here tells something new to those who are versed in the subject. Given the page count and the low “quality” of the majority of French books on this king, this bio looks relatively okay (for the date when it was published), but if you want a rigorous analysis based on documental evidence and more or less reliable primary sources, you will be disappointed. It’s a pity that in such a big book so many primary sources (letters of Henri’s contemporaries, ambassadors’ dispatches, foreign travelers’ notes, etc.) are ignored in favor of pamphlets and literature written many decades later (e.g., Tallemant). The author’s respect for opinions of certain writers (e.g., Ritter) who presented their interpretations of this king makes his take on Henri even less credible, as these interpretations are dated and obviously too biased.
In addition, the author’s views of Catherine de Medici, Marguerite of Valois and Gabrielle d'Estreés also look cliched. His apparent admiration of Sully, Henri’s minister, leads him to exaggerating Sully’s role at the expense of other ministers and the king himself.
But I don’t want my review to appear too critical, so I will give a positive example from the book. Henri didn’t have an accent, as he spent many years in French court as a young boy. This claim about his alleged provincial accent is often repeated, but again, most popular books about Henri have little value in terms of historical accuracy.
To sum up, Henri clearly deserves a better biographer who will take the pains to separate fact from fiction and introduce less known historical material instead of uncritically repeating certain characterizations allegedly made by some of Henri’s contemporaries and throwing on the reader his own value judgments, many of which can be easily countered by historical evidence.
After careful consideration, one must admit that this book is hardly better than usual anecdotal biographies of Henri.
1.65 stars
I can’t say that the author here tells something new to those who are versed in the subject. Given the page count and the low “quality” of the majority of French books on this king, this bio looks relatively okay (for the date when it was published), but if you want a rigorous analysis based on documental evidence and more or less reliable primary sources, you will be disappointed. It’s a pity that in such a big book so many primary sources (letters of Henri’s contemporaries, ambassadors’ dispatches, foreign travelers’ notes, etc.) are ignored in favor of pamphlets and literature written many decades later (e.g., Tallemant). The author’s respect for opinions of certain writers (e.g., Ritter) who presented their interpretations of this king makes his take on Henri even less credible, as these interpretations are dated and obviously too biased.
In addition, the author’s views of Catherine de Medici, Marguerite of Valois and Gabrielle d'Estreés also look cliched. His apparent admiration of Sully, Henri’s minister, leads him to exaggerating Sully’s role at the expense of other ministers and the king himself.
But I don’t want my review to appear too critical, so I will give a positive example from the book. Henri didn’t have an accent, as he spent many years in French court as a young boy. This claim about his alleged provincial accent is often repeated, but again, most popular books about Henri have little value in terms of historical accuracy.
To sum up, Henri clearly deserves a better biographer who will take the pains to separate fact from fiction and introduce less known historical material instead of uncritically repeating certain characterizations allegedly made by some of Henri’s contemporaries and throwing on the reader his own value judgments, many of which can be easily countered by historical evidence.
After careful consideration, one must admit that this book is hardly better than usual anecdotal biographies of Henri.
1.65 stars
Displaying 1 of 1 review