John S. C. Abbott’s biography of Louis Philippe traces the remarkable career of the Orléans prince who lived in exile, worked as a schoolteacher in Switzerland, and eventually returned to rule France as the "Citizen King" from 1830 to 1848. Abbott chronicles the July Monarchy’s cautious constitutional politics, its relationship with the bourgeoisie, and the revolutionary pressures that ultimately swept Louis Philippe from his throne.
Written in Abbott’s characteristically brisk and accessible style for a popular American readership, the biography offers a clear introduction to one of the most significant and underappreciated reigns of nineteenth-century France.