Philip Mansel

Louis XIV, King of France and Navarre, dominated his age. In the second half of the seventeenth century, he extended France's frontiers into the Netherlands and Germany, and established colonies in America, Africa, and India. Louisiana, which once occupied a third of the territory of the present-day United States, is named after him. Louis was also one of the greatest patrons of European history - Moliere, Racine, Lully, Le Brun, le Notre all worked...