This richly illustrated volume, the first devoted to maritime art and galley slavery in early modern France, shows how royal propagandists used the image and labor of enslaved Muslims to glorify Louis XIV. Mediterranean maritime art and the forced labor on which it depended were fundamental to the politics and propaganda of France’s King Louis XIV (r. 1643–1715). Yet most studies of French art in this period focus on Paris and Versailles, overlooking the presence or portrayal of galley slaves on the kingdom’s coasts. By examining a wide range of artistic productions—ship design, artillery sculpture, medals, paintings, and prints—Meredith Martin and Gillian Weiss uncover a vital aspect of royal representation and unsettle a standard picture of art and power in early modern France. With an abundant selection of startling images, many never before published, The Sun King at Sea emphasizes the role of esclaves turcs (enslaved Turks)—rowers who were captured or purchased from Islamic lands—in building and decorating ships and other art objects that circulated on land and by sea to glorify the Crown. Challenging the notion that human bondage vanished from continental France, this cross-disciplinary volume invites a reassessment of servitude as a visible condition, mode of representation, and symbol of sovereignty during Louis XIV’s reign.

Enter a world of Egyptian pharaohs and ancient curses from the Queen of Historical Fiction.London, 1922. A discovery from ancient Egypt . . .A cursed package . . .The untold story of a young pharaoh . . .When Lilian Kaye finds a parcel on her grandad's doorstep, she is shocked to see who sent it: a famous Egyptologist, found dead that very morning, according to every newspaper in England!The mysterious package holds the key to a story . . . about a king whose tomb archaeologists are desperately hunting for.Lil and her friends must embark on an incredible journey - to return the package to its resting place, to protect those they love, and to break the deadly pharaoh's curse . . .'This crisp, beautifully paced story will hold every young reader in thrall.' Telegraph'Hooked yet? You'd have to be dead and wrapped in bandages not to be.' The Times

Louis XIV, whose great prestige earned him the title of "the Sun King," is the most famous of all the French kings. He ruled France in one of its most glorious periods, and remains to this day the supreme symbol of absolute monarchy. Now, in a brilliant new biography, Prince Michael of Greece has revealed a darker side to the Sun King. Drawing on detailed evidence from contemporary records, letters and memoirs, he explored the possibility that, underneath it all, this epitome of kingship was a shy, weak, unstable man of unexpected and intriguing complexity. Prince Michael assesses the continued and enduring influence of Cardinal Mazarin and Louis' mother, Anne of Austria, on the little boy who came to the throne at the age of five but who learned early on to hide his profound insecurity behind the ever more elaborate trappings of monarchy. Here, then, is a vivid portrait of a not particularly intelligent king, secretly poring over textbooks, preferring to command sieges rather than battles because they were more convenient, whose voracious sexual appetite right into his seventies flouted the very conventions he himself tried to impose on a reluctant court at Versailles. Without simply debunking Louis, Prince Michael of Greece succeeds in presenting an iconoclastic biography which shatters many of the accepted myths about the man and his century. The result is a glimpse of the human frailties and inadequacies that lay behind the arrogance, protocol and pageantry of France's greatest king. - Jacket flap.

“The Splendid Century,” penned by the brother of famous author C. S. Lewis (“Alice in Wonderland”), is a depiction of various aspects of life in France during the reign of Louis XIV, gleaned through the author’s thorough research of records, correspondence, and journals of the time. Using anecdotal evidence, the book probes in detail various facets of life in France during this time, including the lives of nobles (particularly those at court) as well as commoners, religious institutions and conflicts, the organization of the French army and its restructuring, rural life and city life, what life was like on galley ships and passenger sailing ships, how doctors were trained, and the state of women’s education. The author also discusses the background behind Louis XIV’s policies, illustrating their impact on French civilization, both during this time and for generations to come. A must-read for anyone interested in French history.

"This richly illustrated volume, the first devoted to maritime art and galley slavery in early modern France, shows how royal propagandists used the image and labor of enslaved Muslims to glorify Louis XIV"--

Against the pomp and pageantry of turbulent seventeenth century England, Elizabeth Goudge weaves the poignant tale of Lucy Walter, the proud and beautiful secret wife of Charles II. From her early childhood in a castle by the sea in Wales and the joys and pangs of childhood, to her tragic estrangement from the king and her death in Paris at the age of twenty-eight, Lucy Walter lived to the full a life of intense joy and equally intense drama. Miss Goudge portrays brilliantly a young love almost too ecstatic to bear. Equally moving is her characterization of Lucy—a spirited woman caught up in the cataclysmic wars and disruptive revolution of a tumultuous era. From London at the time of the Great Fire, to Paris when British royalty fled to the sanctuary of the Louvre, to Brussels and The Hague and a rich panoramic background—a master storyteller traces the life and loves of an extraordinary woman. The Child from the Sea is a superbly colorful and romantic historical novel alive with brilliant cameos and infused with a spiritual essence rare in our times.

Can she find the courage to defy a king? In seventeenth-century France, Louis XIV rules with flamboyant ambition. In his domain, wealth and beauty are all; frivolity begets cruelty; science and alchemy collide. From the Hall of Mirrors to the vermin-infested attics of the Chateau at Versailles, courtiers compete to please the king, sacrificing fortune, principles, and even sacred family bonds. 'A wonderful book! Adventure, love, history, magic - it's an engrossing story with magnificent characters, balanced perfectly on the edge between,' says DIANA GABALDON By the fiftieth year of his reign, Louis XIV has made France the most powerful state in the western world, but the Sun King's appetite for glory knows no bounds. In a bold stroke, he sends his natural philosopher on an expedition to seek the source of immortality: the mythical sea monster. For the glory of his God, his country, and his king, Father Yves de la Croix returns with his treasures: one heavy shroud packed in ice . . . and in a covered basin, an imprisoned sea-creature. Marie-Josephe de la Croix has been looking forward to assisting her brother Yves in the scientific study of the sea monster, until she makes a discovery that will threaten everything her brother, the court and the King believe. 'The finest alternate history ever, light-hearted and wise - a luminous, radiant novel,' said URSULA K. LE GUIN But in the decadent court of King Louis, where morality is skewed and corruption reigns, will anyone listen to a single voice? Somehow, she must find the courage to follow her heart and her convictions - even at the cost of changing her life forever.