Memoirs of Duc de Saint-Simon, 1710-1715: The Bastards Triumphant

Bought this and its companion book for my husband, who's fascinated by French history. Saint-Simon was one of the great diarists and through these books you really get a picture of the minute details of court life. Like Pepys, he takes you into the time and place in a way that a simple history from a modern perspective can't begin to. This is a seminal source and really worth the time if the subject interests you. There's nothing quite like walking in someone else's shoes.

very good read

I read this about 60 years ago in French. I remember being in bed and listening to the roaring laugh of my father reading these Memoirs to my Mom. The title of my comment is one of Saint-Simon's sentences that stuck with me all these years, it is just the type of humor he had.I don't think he was mean, it was the way he saw the world, like a cartoonist.I have read one day that before drawing, the caricaturist Daumier  Daumier Lithographs  waited for the party to run very late, until the ladies let themselves go, and then he would draw them, when the fatigue showed their real face. It was the way Daumier saw the world (vanity of vanities, all is vanity.) So is Saint-Simon: he describes a dying society with an acid pen: it is what he sees.I had many good hours of fun and good conversations with my parents about these books.Pubisher, if only I was 55 years younger, I would fall in love with you. This is a great book. You did well.

I am the publisher. No kidding, I quit my job and started a publishing company so I could make The Memoirs of Duc de Saint-Simon readily available. As a lifetime reader, I was struck at how much this work reminded me of epic fiction. It has a great story line, opulant setting, bizzare characters, and one of the most compelling and funniest narrators you'll ever read...and it really happened!This is book two in the three book set, and if you've read book one, I can tell book two takes it up a notch. Now that the scene at the court of Louis XIV has been set, and the mesmerizing cast of characters have been introduced, you can't help but get sucked in to the corrupt and debauched world Saint-Simon lives in. You will not be disappointed.

Having seen the BBC TV series 'Versailles' I wanted to know more about the history of the court of Louis XIV. This book is written by a friend of Louis' nephew who also was in favour some of the time as an advisor to Louis, so this is the inside story - a witness account of history, which is a rare thing. We only started to get this sort of thing in England from the 17th century too, with Samuel Pepys Diary. It's fascinating to read about the times from someone who was there at the heart of it, or when not at the heart, as a recipient for gossip from those at the centre of things who knew. I think my fascination stems from my interest in history generally. I'm not sure how much it would interest someone who had no interest in the subject in the first place.

Very pleased with condition and presentation. I was worried that this might be a cheaply produced facsimile but it is excellent.

An excellent book