This book is something other than a classic biography. It is the whole reign that he embraces in a general vision of the society of the Grand Siècle, renewing the subject, undermining many clichés and old moons thanks to a considerable documentation, including many foreign studies that are not very accessible, thanks as much to a remarkable, original, accurate analysis of power, its servants, its means of action and propaganda, of its greatness, but also of its limits and contradictions. Combining research, life, intelligence of reflection, clarity, quality of expression and style, Jean-Christian Petitfils wrote a rich and great Louis XIV, which the Académie française crowned with its Grand Prix de la biographie (history).