Marie Antoinette: The last Queen of France
By (Author) Evelyne Lever
Little, Brown Book Group
Piatkus Books
13th April 2006
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
European history
944.035092
Paperback
416
Width 126mm, Height 198mm, Spine 13mm
507g
In Marie Antoinette leading French historian Evelyne Lever tells the compelling story of the last, and most infamous, Queen of France. She draws on little explored sources including Austrian and Swedish archives and the correspondence of foreign ambassadors to Paris to paint vivid portraits of the Queen, her inner circle and the lavish court life at Versailles, as well as the tragic events leading to her death. Describes the queen's life in detail, from her birth in Vienna, through her turbulent, unhappy marriage, the intrigues of life at court, to the final bloody turmoil of the French Revolution and her beheading Describes Marie Antoinette's relationship with the Swedish Count Axel Fersen, the grand passion of her life Describes the seething social and political climate of prerevolutionary France and the degree to which the Queen remained wilfully out of touch with the nation's economic troubles Based on little known diaries, letters, court documents and memoirs Hailed by the critics as 'evocative', 'lively and informed' and 'erudite'
Evelyne Lever is a leading French historian She is the author of seven books including Madame de Pompadour, Philippe Egalite, Louis XVIII and Louis XVI She lives in Paris