Philippe, Duc D'Orleans: Regent of France

When Louis XIV died in 1715, having ruled France for over seventy years, his five-year-old great-grandson became the king. To the alarm of most Frenchmen, however, real power passed to the new regent, Louis XIV's nephew Philippe, duc d'Orleans. A proven soldier and a gifted artist and musician, Philippe was better known as a philanderer and rake. So depraved was Philippe, it was rumored, he had slept with his own daughter. Philippe worked diligently, despite conspiracies against him by other nobles, to restore France's fortunes after the defeat of the War of the Spanish Succession and established himself, in talks with Great Britain and as a proponent of colonial expansion in America, as a skillful and important leader. Christine Pevitt's exciting biography provides an intimate portrait of this compelling figure and reaffirms his historical significance.