Acclaimed author Philippe Erlanger, winner of the Grand Prix d'Histoire de l'Academie Francaise, presents an intimately detailed portrait of France's most powerful and flamboyant ruler. With a novelist's elegant language and psychological insight, Erlanger portrays the Sun King through the decades, showing the crucial effect of a childhood filled with neglect and humiliation, and vividly depicting the King's spectacular style of leadership. "A brilliant, subtle portrait."--"Le Monde." "The best work of history written in France for a century." --"Le Figaro."