Philippe d'Orléans: Frère de Louis XIV

In history textbooks, at least in the ones I use for my survey courses in Western Civilizations, the Sun King tends to overshadow (dare I say, outshine?) many of the most prominent of his entourage, including the great Colbert. To build her case, the author uses the unpublished correspondence of Philippe, as well as that of other diplomats, to reconstruct the complex initial negotiations, in advance of the more formal discussions, providing a more precise evaluation of the duke's diplomatic skills. If this book has any drawbacks, it is the one common to any biographic exploration of so-called famous people, that is, the tendency of the author to slide into bias towards an exalted status of the "hero" of the story. After the victory at Cassel in 1677, Philippe never again went to war, and her assessment is that it was for his own protection: while the "presence of the royal family, which must set an example by their bravery, galvanized the morale of the generals and soldiers, ... the death or capture of the king, his brother or, later, the heir to the throne would be a disaster.