The colorful figure of King Henry IV of France, founder of the Bourbon dynasty, is familiar to many from the novels of Alexandre Dumas and Heinrich Mann. However, the true life story of the ruler of little Navarre, who, at the cost of many years of effort, managed to ascend the French throne and end the civil war that was tormenting the state, is more fascinating than any novel. Henry's personality is woven from contradictions: cunning and carelessness, the courage of a warrior and frantic voluptuousness, concern for the poor and cynical indifference to loved ones. The author of the first biography of Henry IV in the ZhZL series, historian Vasily Balakin, proves that the king was neither an outstanding politician nor a brilliant strategist. The main reasons for his victories are his sound mind, ability to compromise and fantastic luck, which allowed him to avoid all dangers until the last fatal assassination attempt and go down in history as the hero of the legends about “the good King Henri.”