Download or read book Louis XVIII written by Philip Mansel and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Louis XVIII was the most European of the Kings of France. A grandson of Louis XV, born in Versailles in 1755, he escaped from Paris in 1791, disguised as an Englishman. He spent the following twenty - four years as an exile, in Germany, Italy, Russia, Poland, and finally, for seven years, in England. In 1814 he was restored to the throne. As King he renounced French conquests and followed a policy of 'union' with his fellow-monarchs in what he called 'the European system'. The interests of France and Britain, in particular, he considered 'as one'. Based on research throughout Europe, Louis XVIII describes not only the public figure, but also the private man, who compensated for a loveless and childless marriage by lavishing affection on male and female favourites. It is the only English biography of this great protagonist of the French Revolution and Empire, the last French monarch to die on the throne.