A new historical "cheat sheet" from Alexandra Marinina. This time it's French. Paris, Versailles, resplendent kings, daring queens, graceful ladies-in-waiting and brave musketeers… Who among us has not been fascinated by France and its history since childhood? With a special "Marinin" humor, the book tells the story of the French kings from the Father of the people Louis the Twelfth to Louis Philippe the First. You will find out what kind of people they were, with what talents and shortcomings, what hopes and dreams they lived.• How to spend 25 years in her husband's shadow, enduring his open neglect, and suddenly become Catherine de' Medici, an outstanding politician, a cruel poisoner and the mother of three ruling kings, who lived all these years under the motto "hate and wait."• Was Richelieu the grey cardinal under Louis XIII, or was the king himself the instigator of the executions for which the people hated Richelieu?• What "spots" were hidden from the general public by the short-stature and prematurely bald Sun King, in which huge wigs and high-heeled shoes became fashionable?• Which of the ruling French monarchs, having gone all out, had 56 mistresses? And this is just something like a proven minimum, in fact, Henry the Fourth had many more women."This text is not a textbook, it is not the ultimate truth, errors and inaccuracies can certainly be found in it. But if you double-check what you've written and find my "shoals," I'll be only glad, because it means that you're interested and want to know a little more. Well, at the same time, you will be glad that you turned out to be smarter than the author, and any positive emotions are always beneficial!" — ALEXANDRA Marininakook contains quotes from the works of professional historians and famous writers, however, the author deliberately avoids using footnotes indicating the year of publication and page number so that the text does not look "scientific". Read more…