This twin study of Louis XIV of France and his father's one time collaborator, Cardinal Richelieu tells how these two important figures turned France into a global power and a global influence through their respective reforms to the country. Together they are two of the most important figures to have reigned in French history. Together in their own separate and unique ways they enacted policies that bequeathed a legacy that set the foundational principles and institutions that was to govern France and turn her into a successful country that enjoyed world-wide respect and affection. Taking into account new and recent archival evidence these two texts on Louis and Richelieu, respectively offer a fresh and new approach to the lives of these two monarchs as it were and key players in French history.