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A crown is a poisonous thing... After having his first wife murdered and his mistress exiled, the weak and impotent King Louis X of France becomes besotted with the lovely and pious Princess Clemence of Hungary. Having made her his new queen, and believing the succession assured, Louis foolishly embarks upon an ill-fated war against Flanders. The kingdom needs an Iron King. But where his father, Philip IV, was strong, Louis is feeble. Surrounded by ruthlessly ambitious nobles, Including Robert of Artois and his monstrous aunt, Mahaut, Louis will find himself a lamb amongst wolves.
Author
Maurice Druon was born in Paris. He is the nephew of the writer Joseph Kessel, with whom he wrote the Chant des Partisans, which, with music composed by Anna Marly, was used as an anthem by the French Resistance during the Second World War. In 1948 he received the Prix Goncourt for his novel Les grandes familles. On December 8, 1966, he was elected to the 30th seat of the Académie française, succeeding Georges Duhamel. While his scholarly writing earned him a seat at the Académie, he is best known for a series of seven historical novels published in the 1950s under the title Les Rois Maudits (The Accursed Kings). He was Minister of Cultural Affairs in 1973 and 1974 in Pierre Messmer's cabinet, and a deputy of Paris from 1978 to 1981. Source: Wikipedia
