Rarely does a biography's subject get matched by the writing style of the author, but this book is just that. Francois I was a Renaissance prince who lived a florid lifestyle and Francis Hackett writes with a florid pen. It's a great matchup.

Thus he lived in the garden he had created from a kingly worship....

Francois the First was the hinge upon which the history of France turned. Prior to him, there were a few mad kings and Louis XI, the Spider King. But King Francis departed from the medieval past and prepared France for the future, which meant Henri IV, Louis XIV, and Napoleon. Hackett the author presents Francis as the true predecessor of the Sun King, in that Francis loved art, architecture, gardens...and failed wars. For all of his Renaissance virtues, Francois I just couldn't win the big ones, and he really squandered away any of the monies left from the frugality of Louis XI. In other words, it was Francis who started France down the path toward the haves and have-nots, leading to the Revolution more than 200 years later.

But the crow seems to fly by one law and the swallow dart by another.

I admire a writer who has the audacity to compare one of the most notorious European royal personages to a bird and then notating that while a crow is 'bourgeois', the King most certainly was not. Hackett's writing style and complete devotion to his subject can throw the reader, however, as you end up paying more attention to the writing than the subject. Still, that's a plus, and it reflects the mid-20th century when this book was written.

He was building castles on earth while Calvin was building castles in heaven that had dungeons in hell.

While the author stays focused on the French king, the other major players of this historical age also get some attention, which enhances the events surrounding Francis while also piquing the reader's interest. Jean Calvin, Rabelais, Machiavelli, Henry VIII, Charles V, and the Medici Popes all play their roles and makes one wonder how anyone stayed alive long enough. Even when describing Pope Clement's last years ("the meagre soil had worn away"), the author lays bare the personality and weakness of each historical character.

For me, this book started slowly, as I tended to be overwhelmed by the writing, but then it all came together, and it was hard to put down, especially toward the end when the King's only surving progeny, Henri II, made me yearn for a sequel of sorts. Hackett has the gift of the Irish pen, and I certainly am now looking for more of his works.

Book Season = Year Round

( )