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Nom canonique: Mansel, Philip
Date de naissance: 1951
Sexe: male
Nationalité: UK
Études: Eton College
Oxford University (Balliol College)
Courte biographie: Philip Mansel is a historian of France and the Ottoman Empire, courts and monarchs. He was born in London in 1951 and educated at Eton College, where he was a King’s Scholar, and at Balliol College, Oxford, where he read Modern History and Modern Languages. Following four years’ research into the French court of the period 1814-1830, he was awarded his doctorate at University College, London in 1978.

His first book, Louis XVIII, was published in 1981 and this - together with subsequent works such as Paris Between Empires 1814-1852 (2001) - established him on both sides of the Channel as an authority on the later French monarchy. Six of his books have been translated into French.

Altogether Philip Mansel has published nine books of history and biography, mainly relating either to France or to his other main area of interest, the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East: Sultans in Splendour was published in 1988 and Constantinople: City of the World’s Desire 1453-1924 in 1995. Philip Mansel’s latest book, Levant: Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean (John Murray), was published in November 2010 in Britain and in April 2011 in America. Greek, Turkish, Italian and Russian editions will shortly be appearing. www.philipmansel.com

He has contributed reviews and articles to the International Herald Tribune, The Spectator, The Guardian, English Historical Review, Cornucopia and The Times Literary Supplement. In 2012 he was given the London Library Life in Literature award. He has lived in Istanbul, Beirut and Paris.
http://www.cornucopia.net/contributor...

Membres

Critiques

Konstantiniyye par Mansel Philip

Signalé

AnkaraLibrary | Feb 23, 2024 |

Sultans in Splendour : Monarchs of the Middle East,… par Philip Mansel

An interesting book about Middle Eastern monarchies. The book describes the various courts of the Middle Eastern kingdoms. It is less splendorous than the title suggests. Basically, we have an overview of each kingdom and its major players. There are glimpses of the splendor in which they lived, but that doesn't seem to be the main focus of the book. However, the book is lavishly filled with photographs, some of which do indeed show off the splendor. And, actually, quite a bit of interesting information was included in the photo captions. Sometimes the captions were more interesting to me than the book itself.

A good overview of the Middle Eastern rulers from 1869 to 1945.… (plus d'informations)

Signalé

briandrewz | Apr 10, 2023 |

Paris Between Empires: Monarchy and Revolution… par Philip Mansel

Not really finished- but finished for me. A bit too much of the cultural history for my taste, as i was looking for boring old book history of this time period as i try to move on from the fascinating times of the French revolution and then Napoleon (both of which i have read lots on). Will keep trying, but this isn't the one i was looking for.

Signalé

apende | Jul 12, 2022 |

Louis XVIII par Philip Mansel

An interesting, if extremely sympathetic, portrait of an important man now either forgotten or remembered as a punchline. Mansel traces the life of Louis XVI's younger brother, from his youth as a prince with pseudo-intellectual pretensions, to an emigré fleeing the revolution, to the twice-restored king of France. Certainly Louis XVIII — cold, cynical, and extraordinarily fat — is easy to dismiss because of how his reign began, and ended. It began with a disastrous year in office that enabled Napoleon's Hundred Days, and ended with his brother inheriting (Louis never produced an heir) and ending the dynasty in the fires of revolution through misrule.

Mansel paints a portrait of Louis as, eventually, exactly the man France needed in 1815: conservative in ideals but moderate in temperament, he tried to instill a constitutional monarchy in a country that had never really had one, despite attacks from the both the left and right. Louis's constitution would essentially endure for more than three decades, even if the dynasty at the top of the constitutional monarchy changed. And his brother's later bungling only serves to burnish how impressive Louis's rule was — especially after such a rough start.

Despite its effusive praise and defense of Louis, Mansel's book does acknowledge Louis's flaws (coldness, a lack of mercy, a tendency to dote on favorites) but minimizes them or subordinates them to his virtues, chiefly his unshakable conviction in the French monarchy (which kept Louis his throne after being driven into exile a second time) and his moderation (which arguably kept a disunited France together after the Second Restoration).

Stylistically, the book is a bit over-long and repeats itself a few times; I was reading it in part for research and didn't mind the extra details Mansel put in, but more casual readers might find themselves skimming. I also appreciated Mansel's decision to include many of the quotes in both the original French and English translation.

Recommended if you have an interest in the period. Casual readers would be better served looking elsewhere.… (plus d'informations)

Signalé

dhmontgomery | Dec 13, 2020 |

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