->''On the subject of diplomacy: “The sword has to do the best for it does not jest”.''

By [[UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}} Swedish]] author Frans G Bengtsson, author of ''Literature/TheLongships''. ''The Sword Does Not Jest'' is an obscure but well-written biography of [[UsefulNotes/CarolusRex Charles XII]]. As with many biographies, it makes no pretence of hiding the author's hero worship of his subject, but the style is saga-like, entertaining and worth the read.
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!! Provides examples of:
* {{Anticlimax}}: Charles was killed by a stray shot:
-->''His fate was destined to a foreign strand''
-->''A petty fortress and a dubious hand''
-->''He left the name at which the world grew pale''
-->''To paint a moral or adorn a tale.''
* BadassArmy: Sweden has one.
* BadassFamily: The Vasas, Sweden's royal family.
** Charles XII was not part of the house of Vasa, he was part of the house of Palatinate-Zweibrücken.
* BodyguardingABadass: The Drabants regiment.
* FourStarBadass: Charles
* ProudWarriorRace: Swedes, at least as described by Bengtsson. At that time it would have been accurate.
* RealMenLoveJesus: Charles
* TheRival: Peter the Great
* TitleDrop: Charles discussing diplomacy with his minister Stenbock: "The sword must do best, for it does not jest."
* TeenGenius: Charles
* [[AdaptationDistillation Translation Distillation]]: Bengtsson's original Swedish-language biography, ''Karl [=XIIs=] Levnad'' (1932), was a two-volume work heavy on primary source material, including private correspondence and diaries from Charles' contemporaries. This English translation is heavily abridged for narrative clarity.
* WarriorPrince: Charles. One of the last European monarchs to take part in hand-to-hand combat.
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