Nancy Mitford (1904–1973) was born into the British
aristocracy and, by her own account, brought up without an
education, except in riding and French. She managed a London
bookshop during the Second World War, then moved to Paris, where
she began to write her celebrated and successful novels, among them
The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate, about the foibles
of the English upper class. Nancy Mitford was also the author of
four biographies: Madame de Pompadour (1954; available as an NYRB
Classic), Voltaire in Love (1957), The Sun King (1966), and
Frederick the Great (1970). In 1967 Mitford moved from Paris to
Versailles, where she lived until her death from Hodgkin’s
disease.
Philip Mansel is the author of six books dealing with French
history, including a life of Louis XVIII (1981), The Court of
France, 1789–1830 (1989) and Paris Between Empires (2001). He is
currently at work on a life of Louis XIV.
“Irreverently lifts the skirts of the dolls of Versailles and
rummages about underneath, exposing one gem of irresistible detail
after another. . . . A glorious tribute to a glorious age.”
—The Irish Times
“[Mitford’s] interest is focused on the human beings whose hopes,
frustrations, and tragedies are hidden behind the stiff brocade of
the period. The splendid century had its seamy side, and her racy
narrative alternates between the glory and the grime, the ermine
and the vermin.”
—The New York Times
“History, like the kingdom of heaven, has many mansions, Nancy
Mitford’s being, I suggest, a ravishingly pretty one, where anyone
would be happy to spend time—and many have.”
—Antonia Fraser
“Nancy Mitford excels in depicting both the brilliant romantic
showcase and the recessed world of power. . . . No historian
writing in English has given a better pen-picture of Versailles in
its heyday.”
—Time
“A brilliant son et lumière performance.”
—Guardian
“Nancy Mitford was particularly well-equipped to write about Louis
XIV: She spent much of her adult life in France and possessed a
sharp eye for detail.”
—Washington Post Book World
“Nancy Mitford gives vivid, indeed searching, portraits of the
Grand Monarch, and of his awe-struck relations and courtiers . . .
she summarizes a wealth of information about the king’s long,
eventful life at Versailles . . . Readers will wish that her book
were twice as long.”
—Sunday Times (London)
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