Download or read book Murder on the Sun King written by Lara Helou and published by Le Lys Bleu Éditions. This book was released on 2024-05-28 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Murder on the Sun King – True story" depicts a true story. It is the darkest event of the seventeenth century, placed in a modern context similar to enigmatic detective novels. Through an inspiration written by Charles Perrault, Blue-Beard hides horrific secrets in his countryside. His young wife uncovers his plots. This analysis is a thriller for filmmaking. A tremendous suspenseful story for all. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Lara Helou is Doctor of literature from Sorbonne (PHD). Her thesis is published by Presses du Septentrion and widely referenced by WorldCat at New York, Princeton, Indiana, Berkeley, Stanford, California and Berlin universities. Since 2003, she has written and produced 53 stories for screen and audio-visual books for international airlines such as Air France, Corsair, Air Austral, Air Calin. Her stories are also displayed on Kids pads and Royal Caribbean Cruises Line and are read by more than 2 million readers worldwide.
Download or read book The Affair of the Poisons written by Anne Somerset and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2014-01-14 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Affair of the Poisons, as it became known, was an extraordinary episode that took place in France during the reign of Louis XIV. When poisoning and black magic became widespread, arrests followed. Suspects included those among the highest ranks of society. Many were tortured and numerous executions resulted. The 1676 torture and execution of the Marquise de Brinvilliers marked the start of the scandal which rocked the foundations of French society and sent shock waves through all of Europe. Convicted of conspiring with her adulterous lover to poison her father and brothers in order to secure the family fortune, the marquise was the first member of the noble class to fall. In the French court of the period, where sexual affairs were numerous, ladies were not shy of seeking help from the murkier elements of the Parisian underworld, and fortune-tellers supplemented their dubious trade by selling poison. It was not long before the authorities were led to believe that Louis XIV himself was at risk. With the police chief of Paris police alerted, every hint of danger was investigated. Rumors abounded and it was not long before the King ordered the setting up of a special commission to investigate the poisonings and bring offenders to justice. No one, the King decreed, no matter how grand, would be spared having to account for their conduct. The royal court was soon thrown into disarray. The Mistress of the Robes and a distinguished general were among the early suspects. But they paled into insignificance when the King's mistress was incriminated. If, as was said, she had engaged in vile Satanic rituals and had sought to poison a rival for the King's affections, what was Louis XIV to do? Anne Somerset has gone back to original sources, letters and earlier accounts of the affair. By the end of her account, she reaches firm conclusions on various crucial matters. The Affair of the Poisons is an enthralling account of a sometimes bizarre period in French history.
Download or read book City of Light City of Poison Murder Magic and the First Police Chief of Paris written by Holly Tucker and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2017-03-21 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "An artful reconstruction of seventeenth-century Paris with riveting storytelling." —The New Yorker In the late 1600s, Louis XIV assigns Nicolas de la Reynie to bring order to Paris after the brutal deaths of two magistrates. Reynie, pragmatic and fearless, discovers a network of witches, poisoners, and priests whose reach extends all the way to the king’s court at Versailles. Based on court transcripts and Reynie’s compulsive note-taking, Holly Tucker’s engrossing true-crime narrative makes the characters breathe on the page as she follows the police chief into the dark labyrinths of crime-ridden Paris, the halls of royal palaces, secret courtrooms, and torture chambers.
Download or read book Love and Louis XIV written by Antonia Fraser and published by Anchor Canada. This book was released on 2010-06-25 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The superb historian and biographer Antonia Fraser, author of Marie Antoinette, casts new light on the splendor and the scandals of the reign of Louis XIV in this dramatic, illuminating look at the women in his life. The self-proclaimed Sun King, Louis XIV ruled over the most glorious and extravagant court in seventeenth-century Europe. Now, Antonia Fraser goes behind the well-known tales of Louis’s accomplishments and follies, exploring in riveting detail his intimate relationships with women. The king’s mother, Anne of Austria, had been in a childless marriage for twenty-two years before she gave birth to Louis XIV. A devout Catholic, she instilled in her son a strong sense of piety and fought successfully for his right to absolute power. In 1660, Louis married his first cousin, Marie-Thérèse, in a political arrangement. While unfailingly kind to the official Queen of Versailles, Louis sought others to satisfy his romantic and sexual desires. After a flirtation with his sister-in-law, his first important mistress was Louise de La Vallière, who bore him several children before being replaced by the tempestuous and brilliant Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan. Later, when Athénaïs’s reputation was tarnished, the King continued to support her publicly as Athénaïs left court for a life of repentance. Meanwhile her children’s governess, the intelligent and seemingly puritanical Françoise de Maintenon, had already won the King’s affections; in a relationship in complete contrast to his physical obsession with Athénaïs, Louis XIV lived happily with Madame de Maintenon for the rest of his life, very probably marrying her in secret. When his grandson’s child bride, the enchanting Adelaide of Savoy, came to Versaille she lightened the King’s last years – until tragedy struck. With consummate skill, Antonia Fraser weaves insights into the nature of women’s religious lives – as well as such practical matters as contraception – into her magnificent, sweeping portrait of the king, his court, and his ladies.
Download or read book The Sun King written by Nancy Mitford and published by New York Review of Books. This book was released on 2012-05-08 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A “devastatingly witty” biography of Louis XIV and the Court of Versailles—at once a historical record of late 17th- and early 18th-century France and a gossip-filled narrative of lovers and rivals, artists and warriors (The New York Times) The Sun King is a dazzling double portrait of Louis XIV and Versailles, the opulent court from which he ruled. With characteristic élan, Nancy Mitford reconstructs the daily life of king and courtiers during France’s golden age, offering vivid sketches of the architects, artists, and gardeners responsible for the creation of the most magnificent palace Europe had yet seen. Mitford lays bare the complex and deadly intrigues in the stateroom and the no less high-stakes power struggles in the bedroom. At the center of it all is Louis XIV himself, the demanding, mercurial, but remarkably resilient sovereign who guided France through nearly three quarters of the Grand Siècle. Brimming with sumptuous detail and delicious bons mots, and written in a witty, conversational style, The Sun King restores a distant glittering century to vibrant life.
Download or read book Strange Revelations written by Lynn Wood Mollenauer and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Affair of the Poisons was the greatest court scandal of the seventeenth century. From 1679 to 1682 the French crown investigated more than 400 people&—including Louis XIV&’s official mistress and members of the highest-ranking circles at court&—for sensational crimes. In Strange Revelations, Lynn Mollenauer brings this bizarre story to life, exposing a criminal magical underworld thriving in the heart of the Sun King&’s capital. The macabre details of the Affair of the Poisons read like a gothic novel. In the fall of 1678, Nicolas de la Reynie, head of the Paris police, uncovered a plot to poison Louis XIV. La Reynie&’s subsequent investigation unveiled a loosely knit community of sorceresses, magicians, and renegade priests who offered for sale an array of services and products ranging from abortions to love magic to poisons known as &“inheritance powders.&” It was the inheritance powders (usually made from powdered toads steeped in arsenic) that lent the Affair of the Poisons its name. The purchasers of the powders gave the affair its notoriety, for the scandal extended into the most exalted ranks of the French court. Mollenauer adroitly uses the Affair of the Poisons to uncover the hidden forms of power that men and women of all social classes invoked to achieve their goals. While the exercise of state power during the ancien r&égime was quintessentially visible&—ritually displayed through public ceremonies&—the affair exposes the simultaneous presence of other imagined and real sources of power available to the Sun King&’s subjects: magic, poison, and the manipulation of sexual passions. Highly entertaining yet deeply researched, Strange Revelations will appeal to anyone interested in the history of court society, gender, magic, or crime in early modern Europe.
Download or read book Secrets of a Sun King written by Emma Carroll and published by Faber & Faber. This book was released on 2018-07-31 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Enter a world of Egyptian pharaohs and ancient curses from the Queen of Historical Fiction.London, 1922. A discovery from ancient Egypt . . .A cursed package . . .The untold story of a young pharaoh . . .When Lilian Kaye finds a parcel on her grandad's doorstep, she is shocked to see who sent it: a famous Egyptologist, found dead that very morning, according to every newspaper in England!The mysterious package holds the key to a story . . . about a king whose tomb archaeologists are desperately hunting for.Lil and her friends must embark on an incredible journey - to return the package to its resting place, to protect those they love, and to break the deadly pharaoh's curse . . .'This crisp, beautifully paced story will hold every young reader in thrall.' Telegraph'Hooked yet? You'd have to be dead and wrapped in bandages not to be.' The Times
Download or read book King of the World written by Philip Mansel and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 669 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Louis XIV was a man in pursuit of glory. Not content to be the ruler of a world power, he wanted the power to rule the world. And, for a time, he came tantalizingly close. Philip Mansel’s King of the World is the most comprehensive and up-to-date biography in English of this hypnotic, flawed figure who continues to captivate our attention. This lively work takes Louis outside Versailles and shows the true extent of his global ambitions, with stops in London, Madrid, Constantinople, Bangkok, and beyond. We witness the importance of his alliance with the Spanish crown and his success in securing Spain for his descendants, his enmity with England, and his relations with the rest of Europe, as well as Asia, Africa, and the Americas. We also see the king’s effect on the two great global diasporas of Huguenots and Jacobites, and their influence on him as he failed in his brutal attempts to stop Protestants from leaving France. Along the way, we are enveloped in the splendor of Louis’s court and the fascinating cast of characters who prostrated and plotted within it. King of the World is exceptionally researched, drawing on international archives and incorporating sources who knew the king intimately, including the newly released correspondence of Louis’s second wife, Madame de Maintenon. Mansel’s narrative flair is a perfect match for this grand figure, and he brings the Sun King’s world to vivid life. This is a global biography of a global king, whose power was extensive but also limited by laws and circumstances, and whose interests and ambitions stretched far beyond his homeland. Through it all, we watch Louis XIV progressively turn from a dazzling, attractive young king to a belligerent reactionary who sets France on the path to 1789. It is a convincing and compelling portrait of a man who, three hundred years after his death, still epitomizes the idea of le grand monarque.
Download or read book The Sun Does Shine written by Anthony Ray Hinton and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2018-03-27 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A powerful, revealing story of hope, love, justice, and the power of reading by a man who spent thirty years on death row for a crime he didn't commit"--
Download or read book An Affair of Poisons written by Addie Thorley and published by Page Street YA. This book was released on 2019-02-26 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No one looks kindly on the killer of a king. “Fast-paced and refreshing.” – SLJ, starred review “The perfect blend of history and dark fantasy.” – Mary Taranta, author of Shimmer and Burn “Thrilling, romantic, and addictive.” – Rosalyn Eves, author of Blood Rose Rebellion “The only cure is to finish it.” – Lyndsay Ely, author of Gunslinger Girl After unwittingly helping her mother poison King Louis XIV, seventeen-year-old alchemist Mirabelle Monvoisin is forced to see her mother’s Shadow Society in a horrifying new light: they’re not heroes of the people, as they’ve always claimed to be, but murderers. Herself included. Mira tries to ease her guilt by brewing helpful curatives, but her hunger tonics and headache remedies cannot right past wrongs or save the dissenters her mother vows to purge. Royal bastard Josse de Bourbon is more kitchen boy than fils de France. But when the Shadow Society assassinates the Sun King and half of the royal court, he must become the prince he was never meant to be in order to save his injured sisters and the petulant dauphin. Forced to hide in the sewers beneath the city, Josse’s hope of reclaiming Paris seems impossible—until his path collides with Mirabelle’s. She’s a deadly poisoner. He’s a bastard prince. They are sworn enemies, yet they form a tenuous pact to unite the commoners and former nobility against the Shadow Society. But can a rebellion built on mistrust ever hope to succeed?
Download or read book Murder in the Place of Anubis written by Lynda S. Robinson and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2021-05-18 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “This exceptional debut melds ancient Egyptian religious belief and practice with court intrigue to produce a riveting mystery.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review The body of a much-hated scribe has been found in the sacred place of embalming, and the resulting outrage could threaten the reign of Tutankhamun. So the boy king tasks his investigator, Lord Meren, to look into the crime. The quest will take Meren into the worlds of nobles, slaves, and schemers in the royal court—all while he fights to keep the teenaged pharaoh safe from those who would take advantage of this crisis . . . “It’s always a pleasure to negotiate the treacherous corridors of power with Lord Meren.” —The New York Times Book Review “Robinson’s research, both criminological and archaeological, serves her well.” —San Jose Mercury News “A marvelous series.” —Historical Novel Society
Download or read book Ashenden written by W. Somerset Maugham and published by Standard Ebooks. This book was released on 2023-01-01T20:46:22Z with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During World War I W. Somerset Maugham, already by then an established playwright and author, was recruited to be a British intelligence agent. These stories reflect his wartime experiences in intelligence gathering. Though fictionalized, they managed to retain enough authentic elements for Winston Churchill to advise Maugham that their publication might be a violation of the Official Secrets Act, resulting in the author burning an additional 14 stories. Set in various locales across the continent, these remaining Ashenden stories are a precursor to the jet-setting spy novels of the 1950s and 1960s. Maugham is known as a master short story writer and these stories are no exception, combining wit and realism to create memorable characters in a unique and highly critical portrait of wartime espionage. Initially released to a mixed reception—with an early review by D. H. Lawrence being especially scathing—Ashenden has since been credited as an inspiration for numerous authors, including John Le Carré, Graham Greene, and Raymond Chandler. The latter in particular was especially impressed, writing in 1950, “There are no other great spy stories—none at all. I have been searching and I know.” This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.
Download or read book Blood Work A Tale of Medicine and Murder in the Scientific Revolution written by Holly Tucker and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2011-03-21 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Excellent…Tucker’s chronicle of the world of 17th-century science in London and Paris is fascinating." —The Economist In December 1667, maverick physician Jean Denis transfused calf’s blood into one of Paris’s most notorious madmen. Days later, the madman was dead and Denis was framed for murder. A riveting exposé of the fierce debates, deadly politics, and cutthroat rivalries behind the first transfusion experiments, Blood Work takes us from dissection rooms in palaces to the streets of Paris, providing an unforgettable portrait of an era that wrestled with the same questions about morality and experimentation that haunt medical science today.
Download or read book The Tenth Man The Gold Bar Murders written by Alex Josey and published by Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd. This book was released on 2020-06-15 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ten men were involved in the robbery and the gruesome murder of a gold merchant and his two employees. Stolen from them were 120 bars of pure gold. Nine of the men were subsequently found guilty. Seven were hung. Two narrowly escaped the gallows because of their youth. The tenth man, however, escaped death. A fast-paced account that captures the sinister excitement and drama of the plotting, and merciless and savage execution of the victims, by a twisted bunch of felons. Just who betrayed whom?
Download or read book The King s Assassin written by Angus Donald and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2015-06-18 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: AD 1215: The year of Magna Carta - and Robin Hood's greatest battle The yoke of tyranny King John is scheming to reclaim his ancestral lands in Europe, raising the money for new armies by bleeding dry peasants and nobles alike, not least the Earl of Locksley - the former outlaw Robin Hood - and his loyal man Sir Alan Dale. The call to arms As rebellion brews across the country and Robin Hood and his men are dragged into the war against the French in Flanders, a plan is hatched that will bring the former outlaws and their families to the brink of catastrophe - a plan to kill the King. The roar of revolution England explodes into bloody civil war and Alan and Robin must decide who to trust - and who to slaughter. And while Magna Carta might be the answer their prayers for peace, first they will have to force the King to submit to the will of his people . . .
Download or read book The No Nonsense Guide to World History written by Chris Brazier and published by New Internationalist. This book was released on 2011-08-16 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most people's knowledge of world history is hazy and incomplete at best. This updated No-Nonsense Guide gives a full picture, revealing the hidden histories and communities left out of conventional history books—from the civilizations of Africa, Asia, and Latin America to the history of women. The new final chapter includes material on the financial crisis and the world response to climate change. Chris Brazier is co-editor at New Internationalist. His previous books include Vietnam: The Price of Peace. He is principal writer for UNICEF's The State of the World's Children report.
Download or read book Royal Murders written by Dulcie M Ashdown and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2011-08-26 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the motives, means and consequences of the murders among members of Europe's ruling families over the last 1,000 years. Plucking true stories due to their historical significance and sheer intrigue, this book relates violent deaths amid royal splendour and the overthrow of tyrants by oppressed populations. Methods vary from sword and arrow, to bomb and bullet, to alleged witchcraft. Settings range from Russia to Portugal; British examples include the involvement Mary Queen of Scots may have had in her second husband's murder and a search for the facts behind Shakespeare's portrayal of the murderous usurpers Macbeth and Richard III. But in European history there has been no royal murder to rival Russia's Tsar Ivan the Terrible, a homicidal maniac resopnsible for thousands of deaths, whose dramatic killing sprees are examined here. Dulcie M Ashdown takes on a journey through the dark and tragic side of royal history: from Richard III through to the recent controversy surrounding the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
