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The Life of Marie Antionette, Queen of France
A comprehensive look at the life of Marie Antoinette. Wife to King Louis XVI, she was executed by guillotine during the French Revolution. Her life has become a symbol of the rich continuing their ostentatious lifestyle even while their country lives in squalor around them.
541 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 22, 2013
The author of this biography of Marie Antoinette has nothing but praise and admiration for the former French queen. After reading this tome I’m in full agreement with him. Marie Antoinette was a courageous, just, selfless, intelligent, charitable, and admirable woman who suffered the greatest of indignities at the hands of horrific monsters who called themselves men and women.
Many selfish, power-obsessed monarchs and nobles have occupied the French throne or court, often living to a ripe age, causing depression to the lower classes along the way. Such as Louis XIV caused millions of his people to suffer death or misery whilst he lived in luxury. Nobody rebelled or stood up to him, yet his descendant – Louis XVI – proves to be a good king, arguably one of few, and this kind-hearted monarch is dethroned along with his magnificent queen, and beheaded without just cause.
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette only wanted what was best for their country. It seems so unfair that they should have to live in this period when the most abysmal scum of the ‘human’ race come together and perform the horrific acts of the French Revolution.
Of course the monarchy were not alone in these inhumane outrages. One woman – the wife of a baker – had to first watch her husband’s beheading in their bakery, by ‘people’ indignant at the cost of bread, and then she was forced to kiss the lips of the severed head. This is just one example of the barbarity that occurred.
This book has moved me in a way that few other have, despite my long-term awareness of the French Revolution. Watching short documentaries on these cruel events or reading general accounts are disturbing enough, but to read a biography like this, to follow the development from the point of view of several individuals, has a much bigger impact on the mind – or at least it has on mine. This is why I’ve awarded the book four stars, but five stars could not come close to how much I rate Marie Antoinette for all the goodness she showed in her lifetime.
For a long time Marie Antoinette had great hopes for the future. She was forced into marriage when Louis XV – Louis XVI’s grandfather – was still king. She was only fourteen at the time. She grew up as Archduchess of Austria, daughter of the Empress-Queen Maria Theresa.
Marie Antoinette loved her mother dearly and did not object at all to this arranged marriage even in the knowledge that she’d probably never return to her native home again. She didn’t even see her beloved mother again. They kept in touch by letter, of which many of Marie Antoinette’s have survived to be reproduced in this biography.
When reading the positive impact Marie Antoinette made on the majority of the populace during the first fifteen-twenty years of her time in France, even before she became queen, it somehow makes her eventual fate all the worse.
Her final years were fit for a criminal, not for a great women like her, who could have done so much good for France – perhaps even for Europe, considering the mesmerising affect she had on various foreign visitors, including some of my fellow Englishmen.
I perceive Marie Antoinette as a true heroine and a positive inspiration to anyone with a good heart. She deserves to be remembered.
Many selfish, power-obsessed monarchs and nobles have occupied the French throne or court, often living to a ripe age, causing depression to the lower classes along the way. Such as Louis XIV caused millions of his people to suffer death or misery whilst he lived in luxury. Nobody rebelled or stood up to him, yet his descendant – Louis XVI – proves to be a good king, arguably one of few, and this kind-hearted monarch is dethroned along with his magnificent queen, and beheaded without just cause.
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette only wanted what was best for their country. It seems so unfair that they should have to live in this period when the most abysmal scum of the ‘human’ race come together and perform the horrific acts of the French Revolution.
Of course the monarchy were not alone in these inhumane outrages. One woman – the wife of a baker – had to first watch her husband’s beheading in their bakery, by ‘people’ indignant at the cost of bread, and then she was forced to kiss the lips of the severed head. This is just one example of the barbarity that occurred.
This book has moved me in a way that few other have, despite my long-term awareness of the French Revolution. Watching short documentaries on these cruel events or reading general accounts are disturbing enough, but to read a biography like this, to follow the development from the point of view of several individuals, has a much bigger impact on the mind – or at least it has on mine. This is why I’ve awarded the book four stars, but five stars could not come close to how much I rate Marie Antoinette for all the goodness she showed in her lifetime.
For a long time Marie Antoinette had great hopes for the future. She was forced into marriage when Louis XV – Louis XVI’s grandfather – was still king. She was only fourteen at the time. She grew up as Archduchess of Austria, daughter of the Empress-Queen Maria Theresa.
Marie Antoinette loved her mother dearly and did not object at all to this arranged marriage even in the knowledge that she’d probably never return to her native home again. She didn’t even see her beloved mother again. They kept in touch by letter, of which many of Marie Antoinette’s have survived to be reproduced in this biography.
When reading the positive impact Marie Antoinette made on the majority of the populace during the first fifteen-twenty years of her time in France, even before she became queen, it somehow makes her eventual fate all the worse.
Her final years were fit for a criminal, not for a great women like her, who could have done so much good for France – perhaps even for Europe, considering the mesmerising affect she had on various foreign visitors, including some of my fellow Englishmen.
I perceive Marie Antoinette as a true heroine and a positive inspiration to anyone with a good heart. She deserves to be remembered.
July 16, 2018
I was excited to download and start this book, especially after watching a movie about Marie Antoinette, but this is the second time I'm shelving it without finishing. The information is fantastic, but the writing is a slog, which is probably indicative of the time period in which it was written. My favorite parts were Antoinette's letters to her family and her attitudes toward charity, which gave me a great insight into who she really was and not who she was painted during the French Revolution. I wish the author had had the graceful, flowing writing style as his subject! Overall, it's information is wonderful, especially if you want to know who Antoinette was behind the horrid image she was given, but the writing left me desiring a lot.
May 1, 2014
Very informative and entertaining read.
October 31, 2020
This is an incredible read, the life, history was so profoundly produced through her journals, letters, documents and written so very understandable. It astounded me how much she wrote herself, what a kind lady she was and I was so very disturbed in the end that the whole family was done away with , in no merciful ways and yet having done nothing. Is 100% better then all the movies I’ve seen of her and so very truly deeply sad.
August 29, 2018
Back then I often heard people saying about France Queen named Marie Antoinette who liked to throw up to empty her stomach and then eat again. By reading this book, I could see things from different perspectives. And I can relate. But in other hand, I do believe that history is written by the winner. And book, sometimes, has a duty to lead readers to a certain point.
April 8, 2017
I downloaded this book to my kindle from Amazon for free. It gave a lot of interesting sight into the life of Marie Antoinette and the last days or the reign of herself and Louise. Sources were quoted which is always nice to have. Also, there were excerpts from letters that had been written at the time. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.
January 5, 2016
As a child, my idol was Marie Antionette. I guess it had more to do with her clothes and hair, than her actual actions. Since I liked her that much, I decided to read this heavy book. It was a bit too much for a 12-13 year old girl, but I still remember many things from the book. If you really, really want to know all about this late Queen of France, I'll recommend it.
January 13, 2012
Sad ending but very good book. Enjoyed even more since I was in Paris and visited her home.
January 6, 2014
I like how portrays Marie Antoinette as a product of her times.
April 20, 2016
It was really refreshing to read about a queen who's life was so very hard after becoming one.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews