Political Testament of Cardinal Richelieu - Annotated (Paperback)

About the Book

Cardinal Richelieu's Political Testament is one of the most revealing expressions of an individual's sense of identity in all literature. This first comprehensive translation of one of the most famous works on early modern statecraft includes an incisive introduction and detai...

Book Synopsis

Cardinal Richelieu's Political Testament is one of the most revealing expressions of an individual's sense of identity in all literature. This first comprehensive translation of one of the most famous works on early modern statecraft includes an incisive introduction and detailed annotations setting the historical context for modern readers.

Review Quotes

At last we have a complete and learned translation of Cardinal Richelieu's political testament, one of the two or three works about politics written by someone who actually wielded power, and who managed to execute almost all of his vision of a France endowed with a state capable of mobilizing resources sufficient to curb Spanish, Imperial, and papal challenges to its sovereignty. Sonnino's introduction definitively explores all the questions about the history of the text, and engages the reader, whether a historian or not, in an adventure centered on all the moral issues that power brings to mind.

In The Political Testament of Cardinal Richelieu, Paul Sonnino offers to historians of early modern France, and to anyone working on the history of the state or political theory, a second welcome gift--a fitting partner to his authoritative edition of Louis XIV's Memoirs. Nonspecialists will particularly welcome his insightful commentary and contextual framing for a text so often misunderstood.

About the Author

Paul Sonnino is professor of history at the University of California Santa Barbara.