Review: The Man Who Outshone The Sun King: Ambition, Triumph and Treachery in the Reign of Louis XIV

The Man Who Outshone The Sun King: Ambition, Triumph and Treachery in the Reign of Louis XIV by Charles Drazin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

DISCLAIMER: I am obsessed with anything to do with The Three Musketeers so this was an automatic must-read for me.

Happily, I enjoyed every second of it.

I've never been big on history, but my musketeer obsession has led to a fascination of French history from that era, and when I spotted this book at Versailles on my recent trip to France (excuse the humble brag about my trip-of-a-lifetime, please) I knew I had to read it.

Foucquet, as Superintendent of Finances, had a role I never properly understood from the fictionalised account in The Man in the Iron Mask. This book tells his story: beginning at a dramatic middle point, then returning to his beginnings to explore his rise to power and subsequent downfall.

Drazin speaks the truth with no embellishment, and the book is clearly well-researched as it includes meticulous detail and some fascinating quotes. This is a fantastic story simply because the story itself is fascinating - the author is just the conduit to having this extraordinary life properly examined.

In general, I hate politics, but when the corruption is such a standard practice it makes for entertaining reading. Also interesting that the Sun King barely features, thanks to the overbearing presence of Cardinal Mazarin, until the latter half of Nicolas's story. Then when he appears he does so in full force. At one point I was thinking Foucquet was maybe a little bit guilty but then reading about the injustices he suffered really made my blood boil. It seems like such a tragic tale, but a brilliant insight into how justice was served in 17th century France.

I actually really admire the way Foucquet handled his incarceration, and even his reaction to the rumours that the king was plotting against him. I get the impression he had very strong moral fibre, and a healthy respect for faith and fate. He still had his flaws, and this account doesn't shy away from those, but at heart it seems he was a good man.

For those interested in a small piece of French history, I highly recommend this book. Don't be too sucked in by the blurb, as d'Artagnan and the MITIM don't actually appear until quite late in the book, but give it a go if you like those stories because reading the history behind Dumas's work is truly fascinating.

Also, d'Artagnan is most definitely in it and he is a real person and he's actually a total sweetheart and this makes me so so so incredibly happy because this is non-fiction, yo, and means my fictional book bf was once a living, breathing, human being. <3

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