What I'm Reading: A History of France by George William Kitchen

Currently I am reading from a history of France.

While doing some research for my campaign timeline, I came across a multivolume history of France. I’m using two of the volumes to add to my knowledge of the period and to my campaign timeline.

• A History of France, Volume 2: A.D. 1453-1624 by George William Kitchen, published in 1896.

• A History of France, Volume 3: A.D. 1624-1793 by George William Kitchen, published in 1903.

One might ask why I am using a source that is over one hundred years old. Well there are two reasons.

First, these books are written at a level of detail that is quite useful for my purposes. For example, one footnote 2 on page 24 quotes a satiric writing of the time that lists clerical supporters and allies of Richelieu.

This information is perfect for my campaign. Several PCs work for Richelieu as guards or as one of his secretaries and the secretary is a Jesuit who is there to spy on Richelieu. So knowing who some of his chief clerical supporters were, and by process of elimination, who were not supporters, is extremely useful in sorting through the rivalries between the various Catholic groups e.g. Capuchins, Jesuits, Dominicans, Oratorians, Richelieu himself, etc.Henri d'Escoubleua de Sourdis Bishop of Maillezais (and later Archbishop of Bordeaux) is now a new NPC allied to Richelieu. And thus a new source for intrigue and a possible patron. Perhaps Father Signoret may be promoted to a position on the Curia of Bishop de Sourdis.

The second reason is that the EBook is free and available. So the price is pretty difficult to beat.

EDIT: Let's see if this fixes the image links.