Philip Mansel ist ein Historiker, dessen Werk sich mit den Feinheiten von Höfen und Städten befasst, mit besonderem Schwerpunkt auf Frankreich und dem Osmanischen Reich. Seine Forschung zeichnet sich durch eine tiefe Erkundung des aristokratischen Lebens, seiner Rituale und der umgebenden Welten aus, in denen sie lebten. Mansel beschwört meisterhaft die Atmosphäre historischer Höfe und das komplexe Gefüge urbaner Zentren herauf, alles in einem Stil, der sowohl wissenschaftlich als auch fesselnd ist.
„König der Welt“ von Philip Mansel bietet eine neue Perspektive auf Ludwig XIV., der nicht nur für Absolutismus und Pracht von Versailles steht, sondern auch weitreichende Ambitionen hatte. Seine diplomatischen Strategien prägten nicht nur Frankreich, sondern auch das Deutschland des 17. Jahrhunderts. Eine aufschlussreiche Biografie.
Prince Charles-Joseph de Ligne ist ein Mann, wie ihn sonst nur die Renaissance hervorbrachte: ein Hocharistokrat, ein begabter General, ein provozierender Autor, ein glänzender Gesprächspartner, ein großer Gartenliebhaber, ein Moralist und ein Memoirenschreiber. Sein Streben nach militärischem und literarischem Ruhm konnte sich nur messen mit seinem Liebeshunger. Als er 16 Jahre alt war, nahm ihn sein Vater mit nach Wien, wo er dem Kaiser und der Kaiserin vorgestellt wurde. Von diesem Zeitpunkt an befand er sich bis zu seinem Tode im Alter von 79 Jahren ständig auf Reisen und konnte stolz verkünden: »Ich habe sechs oder sieben Vaterländer.« Mit seiner gewandten und produktiven Feder betätigte er sich als Autor, vor allem aber war er ein bemerkenswerter Chronist seiner Zeit. Der Freund Casanovas kannte die meisten Prominenten Europas und wurde selbst zu einer Berühmtheit: wegen seines guten Aussehens, seines Charmes und seiner Begabung zur Konversation. Der Fürst starb während des Wiener Kongresses, auf dem die Landkarte Europas unter der Begleitmusik von Bällen und Intrigen neugestaltet wurde. Zu einer Zeit, da sich Europa auf eine größere Integration zubewegt, hat Philip Mansel eine abwechslungsreiche Biographie dieses »mühelosen« Europäers geschrieben - eines Mannes für unsere Zeit.
Focusing on the achievements of the French Émigrés, this collection of essays highlights their significant influence across Europe from 1789 to 1814. Rather than portraying them solely as refugees, the book illustrates their roles as proactive and effective participants in the resistance against the French Revolution. Covering diverse regions such as London, Hungary, Lisbon, and Prussia, it emphasizes their contributions to the political, ideological, and cultural landscape of the era.
"Philip Mansel's book is poised to become the new standard English-language biography of Louis XIV, one that takes into account the revolution in the last fifty years in knowledge about every aspect of the king's reign: the army; Catholicism; diplomacy; the arts; music; medicine; homosexuality at his court; the role of women and the publication of the entire correspondence of his second wife, Madame de Maintenon. This is a global biography of a global king, whose power on the French monarchy and state was large but also limited by laws and circumstances, and whose interests and ambitions stretched from the eastern frontiers of his territory, which he enlarged to what is essentially France's shape today, to the territories along the Mississippi and Mekong rivers. Through it all, we watch Louis XIV progressively turning from a dazzling, attractive monarch to a belligerent reactionary who sets France on the path to 1789"-- Provided by publisher
"Prince Charles-Joseph de Ligne has the paradoxical reputation of being both famous and little known. He was a Renaissance man in Enlightenment Europe: a grand aristocrat, a talented general, a provocative writer, a brilliant conversationalist, a great garden lover, a moralist and a memoirist. His desire for military glory and literary fame was as great as his appetite for lovers." "The Prince de Ligne witnessed the fall of Napoleon, who fascinated him but whom he refused to meet. He died during the Congress of Vienna, which redrew the map of Europe to the accompaniment of balls and intrigues." "Though sometimes neglected in Britain, Ligne has remained a popular historical figure in Europe. As the continent moves towards greater integration, Philip Mansel has produced a colourful and timely biography of this effortless European - a man for our time."--Jacket
Louis XIV dominated his age. He extended France's frontiers into Netherlands and Germany, and established colonies overseas. The stupendous palace he built at Versailles became the envy of monarchs all over Europe. In his palaces, Louis encouraged dancing, hunting, music and gambling. He loved conversation, especially with women: the power of women in Louis's life and reign is a particular theme of this book. Louis was obsessed by the details of government but the cost of building palaces and waging continuous wars devastated the country's finances and helped set it on the path to revolution. Nevertheless, by his death, he had helped make his grandson king of Spain, where his descendants still reign, and France had taken essentially the shape it has today. King of the World is the most comprehensive and up-to-date biography of this hypnotic, flawed figure in English. It draws on all the latest research to paint a convincing and compelling portrait of a man who, three hundred years after his death, still epitomises the idea of le grand monarque
The grandeur and extravagance of the court of Napoleon I once surpassed even that of that Louis XIV, the Sun King. His palaces at Saint-Cloud and the Tuileries shimmered with walls of Lyons silk and exotic treasures gleaned from distant campaigns; it echoed with the rustle of jewel-encrusted gowns, the drums of military marches and the whispers of his courtiers' intrigues. This was the center of Napoleon's magnetic power, a dazzling reflection of the greatest empire in European history. Napoleon's military conquests changed the world, but it was through the splendor of his court that he strengthened his ambitions for empire and retained his control over it. Mansel brings to life in exquisite detail the heady world of this court: the power and ambition, visual magnificence and rigid hierarchy; stories of mistresses, fortune-seekers, servants and courtiers. Ultimately, the life of the court illuminates the life of Napoleon and the great force of a man who conquered half the world yet, in the end, was “devoured by ambition.”
A poignant testament to the city shattered by Syria's civil war. Aleppo lies in ruins, a casualty of Syria's brutal civil war. Its streets are cloaked in darkness, its population scattered, its memories ravaged. But this was once a vibrant world city, where Muslims, Christians and Jews lived and traded together in peace. Few places are as ancient and diverse. At the crossroads of global trade, Aleppo drew merchants from Venice, Isfahan and Agra to the largest souq in the Middle East and it was from here that some of the world's most enduring food, music and culture sprang.
The first English-language history of the Levant in the modern age
'Without question one of the best books ever written by an Englishman on the Turks' William Dalrymple