This is a great book, covering an area of extreme interest. Being swedish myself, doubtless has some influence in my interest of this king and commander. Far from the absolute, rigid and corrupted king which marked many of the contemporary rulers of Europe during that time, the book gives deep insights into a truly remarkable man and his thoughts and actions. He was instrumental for the survival of Sweden, and its powers to influence the course of action in Europe. He was also seen as one of the few men capable of halting russian intrusions into eastern europe. Losing his mother and father at the age of 14-15 he bacame one of the youngest kings ever in swedish history, and without doubt its greatest military commander, who protected his country against hostile forces. Unfortunately this side of him is not very well known in his old homeland, where he's instead seen as a man who dragged us into never ending wars. His importance for neo-nazis member in Sweden, doesn't help his legacy. For any one, remotely interested in 18th century european history, and the tactics of a truly formidable commander this is a great book.

This is a collection of essays on many of the main Historical controversies in the reign of Louis XIV. The first hundred and ten pages discuss general problems in Louis' policy. This includes essays on how much priority Louis XIV interacted with other rulers and what consideration he gave to his Royal dignity. The rest of the book consists of case studies examining different specific issues that occured during Louis' reign. Most of these articles deal with the middle period of Louis' reign ( 1668 - 1695 ). The article about the 'secret' treaty between Louis and the Habsburg Emperor Leopold dividing the Spanish territories is a very important new Historical discovery. Until this was written most Historians assumed that there were no peaceful attempts to solve the Spanish succession prior to Louis later attempt with William III after the Nine Years War.