Synopses & Reviews
One of history's most misunderstood figures, Marie Antoinette represents the extravagance and the decadence of pre-Revolution France. Yet there was an innocence about Antoinette, thrust as a child into the chillingly formal French court.
Married to the maladroit, ill-mannered Dauphin, Antoinette found pleasure in costly entertainments and garments. She spent lavishly while her overtaxed and increasingly hostile subjects blamed her for France's plight. In time Antoinette matured into a courageous Queen, and when their enemies finally closed in, Antoinette followed her inept husband to the guillotine in one last act of bravery.
In To the Scaffold, Carolly Erickson provides an estimation of a lost Queen that is psychologically acute, richly detailed, and deeply moving.
Review
"Carolly Erickson brings [an] immediacy and easy intimacy to her study."
- Los Angeles Times Book Review
"For lovers of history or lovers of a great romantic story, this book is a must."
- Louisville Courier-Journal
Synopsis
"An extraordinary life...Erickson gives us a likable, empathetic woman and broadens our understanding of her."
- The New York Times Book Review
About the Author
Distinguished historian
Carolly Erickson is the author of
Rival to the Queen,
The Memoirs of Mary Queen of Scots,
The First Elizabeth,
The Hidden Life of Josephine,
The Last Wife of Henry VIII, and many other prize-winning works of fiction and nonfiction. Her novel
The Tsarinas Daughter won the
Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Historical Fiction. She lives in Hawaii.