At the center of the novel is the figure of Duke Philippe of Orleans, who, against the will of his uncle, Louis XIV, became regent of the future Louis XV and held this position until the young king came of age. And although the years of the regency of Philippe d'Orléans marked the beginning of the Age of Enlightenment, his contemporaries did not like him, passing this dislike on to his descendants. Philippe Erlanger (1903–1987), a famous French writer and historian, author of a number of books about French monarchs, tries to restore justice by depicting the contradictory, psychologically deep character of a great statesman.