Celebrated as the first modern French historian, Philippe de Commynes not only recorded the political events surrounding the French court at the close of the fifteenth century; he also played an active role in them. The professional life of Commynes as political adviser and diplomat to the French king became the raw material of his writings; yet, he did not begin his career intending to become a writer but rather a man of action, a soldier, and a political agent. His Les Mémoires (The Memoires, circa 1489-1498), is the work of his later years when he was removed from the center of power, are a retrospective evaluation of battles, political intrigues, and most importantly, of the princes who shaped history. What Commynes began to write as a simple eyewitness account of the monarchy of Louis XI developed into a political and psychological analysis of the role...