Éminence: Cardinal Richelieu and the Rise of France

Chief minister to King Louis XIII Cardinal Richelieu was the architect of a new France in the seventeenth century and the force behind the nations rise as a European power. Among the first statesmen to clearly understand the necessity of a balance of powers he was one of the early realist politicians practicing in the wake of Niccol Machiavelli. Truly larger than life he has captured the imagination of generations both through his own story and through his portrayal as a ruthless political mastermind in Alexandre Dumass classic The Three Musketeers. Forging a nation-state amid the swirl of unruly grasping nobles widespread corruption wars of religion and an ambitious Habsburg empire Richelieus hands were always full. Serving his fickle monarch he mastered the politics of absolute power. Jean-Vincent Blanchards rich and insightful new biography brings Richelieu fully to life in all his complexity. At times cruel and ruthless Richelieu was always devoted to creating a lasting central authority vested in the power of monarchy a power essential to Frances position on the European stage for the next two centuries. Richelieus careful understanding of politics as spectacle speaks to contemporary readers; much of what he accomplished was promoted strategically through his great passion for theater and literature and through the romance of power. minence offers a rich portrait of a fascinating man and his era and gives us a keener understanding of the dark arts of politics.