Study of the reign of Louis XVI

Louis XVI was at the center of the French Revolution, one of the major turning points in world history, but he remains relatively little known, often portrayed only as the weak, lazy, and treasonous king dominated by Marie-Antoinette. This new investigation by John Hardman, a leading expert on the French Revolution, challenges this stereotype. Drawing on new evidence from Louis XVI's letters and from a large body of new research, Hardman provides the first detailed reconstruction of the king's political thought and sheds new light on the king's character and personality. Ideal for students and scholars of modern history, Louis XVI is an important reconsideration of key aspect of the French and a lively introduction to this willfully enigmatic man.

This book explores the Paris Ecole Militaire as an institution, arguing for its importance as a school that presented itself as a model for reform during a key moment in the movement towards military professionalism as well as state-run secular education. The school is distinguished for being an Enlightenment project, one of its founders publishing an article on it in the Encyclopédie in 1755. Its curriculum broke completely with the Latin pedagogy of the dominant Jesuit system, while adapting the legacy of seventeenth-century riding academies. Its status touches on the nature of absolutism, as it was conceived to glorify the Bourbon dynasty in a similar way to the girls’ school at Saint Cyr and the Invalides. It was also a dispensary of royal charity calculated to ally the nobility more closely to royal interests through military service. In the army, its proofs of nobility were the model for the much debated 1781 Ségur decree, often described as a notable cause of the French Revolution.

A thought-provoking, authoritative biography of one of history’s most maligned rulers: France’s Louis XVI “The definitive contribution to our understanding of Louis XVI as a man and a monarch.”—P. M. Jones, English Historical Review “Monumental. . . . Scholars probing the mysteries of the late Old Regime and French Revolution will be working in its shadow for many years to come.”—Thomas E. Kaiser, Journal of Modern History Louis XVI of France, who was guillotined in 1793 during the Revolution and Reign of Terror, is commonly portrayed in fiction and film either as a weak and stupid despot in thrall to his beautiful, shallow wife, Marie Antoinette, or as a cruel and treasonous tyrant. Historian John Hardman disputes both these versions in a fascinating new biography of the ill-fated monarch. Based in part on new scholarship that has emerged over the past two decades, Hardman’s illuminating study describes a highly educated ruler who, though indecisive, possessed sharp political insight and a talent for foreign policy; who often saw the dangers ahead but could not or would not prevent them; and whose great misfortune was to be caught in the violent center of a major turning point in history. Hardman’s dramatic reassessment of the reign of Louis XVI sheds a bold new light on the man, his actions, his world, and his policies, including the king’s support for America’s War of Independence, the intricate workings of his court, the disastrous Diamond Necklace Affair, and Louis’s famous dash to Varennes.

Creator of the bestselling The Brick Bible series, master LEGO storyteller Brendan Powell Smith makes history come alive with a fresh new telling of the most fascinating details of our past. Following 2013’s Assassination!, Smith’s new Revolution! takes readers on a wild ride through events that shaped the world and shows how two revolutions inspired by the highest of ideals—liberty and fair representation—went in such profoundly different directions. While the struggles of the American Revolution forged a nation that became a beacon of hope and democracy to the world, the upheavals of the French Revolution plunged that nation into a nightmare of ghastly terrors that collapsed into despotism. For the first time in LEGO, see the infamous Boston Tea Party, the battles of Lexington and Concord, George Washington’s daring crossing of the Delaware, Paul Revere’s midnight ride, the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, and more. Across the pond, discover the reign of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the storming of the Bastille, the Women’s March on Versailles, the Reign of Terror, the guillotining of royalty and traitors alike, and the ultimate rise of Napoleon. With over four hundred highly detailed illustrations, Smith captures the spirit of these American and French revolutionaries, demonstrating the compelling power of this unlikely creative medium. Whether a historian or a LEGO enthusiast, readers of all ages will surely be enthralled with Brendan Powell Smith’s latest brick creation in The Brick Chronicle series. It’s history made fun! Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

This title brings together a sweeping range of expert and innovative contributions to offer engaging and thought-provoking insights into the history and historiography of the French Revolution, particularly its legacies in transnational and global contexts.

The true story of the woman who befriended the last queen of France—and the price she paid for her devotion. Perhaps no one knew Marie Antoinette better than one of her closest confidantes, Marie Thérèse, the Princess de Lamballe. The princess became superintendent of the queen’s household in 1774, and through her relationship with Marie Antoinette, she gained a unique perspective of the lavishness and daily intrigue at Versailles. Born into the famous House of Savoy in Turin, Italy, Marie Thérèse was married at the age of seventeen to the Prince de Lamballe, heir to one of the richest fortunes in France. He transported her to the gold-leafed and glittering chandeliered halls of the Château de Versailles, where she soon found herself immersed in the political and sexual scandals that surrounded the royal court. As the plotters and planners of Versailles sought, at all costs, to gain the favor of Louis XVI and his queen, the Princess de Lamballe was there to witness it all. This book reveals the Princess de Lamballe’s version of these events and is based on a wide variety of historical sources, helping to capture the waning days and grisly demise of the French monarchy. The story immerses you in a world of titillating sexual rumors, bloodthirsty revolutionaries, and hair-raising escape attempts—a must read for anyone interested in Marie Antoinette, the origins of the French Revolution, or life in the late eighteenth century.