This is the story of Louis XIV, who ruled for 72 years, longer than any other king in history. His word was law and he stood as the supreme embodiment of Absolute Monarchy both in its strength and in its ultimate fatal weakness. Unswervingly his reign was dedicated to grandeur, both for himself and for France. Using advisors from the middle class, he solidified his power over the great nobles. Reforming the army, he extended France's borders, winning through diplomacy what he could not by arms. Under his patronage, French literature and art became the model for the Western world, and his palace at Versailles seemed to crown his triumph, dazzling all Europe with its splendor.

In his ambition, however, lay the seeds of distraction. The homage he demanded made his aides flatterers rather than administrators, while his scorn of finances ate away at the foundations of his state. His persecution of the French Huguenots forced the mass exodus of an important segment of the population, and, finally, his military campaigns brought France to the brink of ruin. Only a last minute stroke of good fortune staved off disaster.

Though he had plunged the nation into more than half a century of warfare, ironically, he left this piece of advice to his successors—to try to keep the peace, for he himself had been too fond of war.

From the book