See this at:
amazon.com|
Added on 03/02/08
Adelaide of Savoy, a favorite companion of Louis XIV during his dotage, remarked, "Under a king, a country is really ruled by women." Fraser's history of the court of the Sun King, seen through the lens of the women closest to him, is a highly...
See more 
Adelaide of Savoy, a favorite companion of Louis XIV during his dotage, remarked, "Under a king, a country is really ruled by women." Fraser's history of the court of the Sun King, seen through the lens of the women closest to him, is a highly readable confection, and unfolds as a sequence of cameos. There is Queen Anne of Austria, Louis's steely moth"r and regent, who carefully molded the infant King into an Apollo adored by the court; and his wife, Marie-Therese of Spain, who gave him no trouble except by dying. Then comes a trio of mistresses: Louise de La Valliere, who became a nun as recompense for her sins; Athenais, voluptuous and fecund; and Madame de Maintenon, the discreet and redoubtable confidante of his later years. With vivid wit, Fraser demonstrates that within the edifice of the monarchy there were deep crannies of ordinary affection. See less 
Highlights:
Price: $11.53
.value, '<a href="http://www.kaboodle.com/dragonfae9/books.html"><img alt="" src="http://cn1.kaboodle.com/hi/img/c/0/0/54/c/AAAADNHmgPYAAAAAAFTAWw.jpg" width="100px" /></a>','http://www.kaboodle.com/dragonfae9/books.html','1');)
