Marie-Antoinette: The Making of a French Queen (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780300243086)

A new look which fundamentally overturns our understanding of this famously "out of touch" queen

"Presents Marie-Antoinette] as much more than a symbol whose meaning is in the eye of her beholder . . . neither martyr nor voluptuary but rather a serious participant in politics."--Lynn Hunt, New York Review of Books

"Splendid. . . . Masterly. . . . A wonderfully gripping biography."--Allan Massie, Wall Street Journal

Named a Book of the Year (2020) by The Spectator

Who was the real Marie-Antoinette? She was mistrusted and reviled in her own time, and today she is portrayed as a lightweight incapable of understanding the events that engulfed her. In this new account, John Hardman redresses the balance and sheds fresh light on Marie-Antoinette's story.

Hardman shows how Marie-Antoinette played a significant but misunderstood role in the crisis of the monarchy. Drawing on new sources, he describes how, from the outset, Marie-Antoinette refused to prioritize the aggressive foreign policy of her mother, Maria-Theresa, bravely took over the helm from Louis XVI after the collapse of his morale, and, when revolution broke out, listened to the Third Estate and worked closely with repentant radicals to give the constitutional monarchy a fighting chance. For the first time, Hardman demonstrates exactly what influence Marie-Antoinette had and when and how she exerted it.

Author: John Hardman
ISBN-10: 0300243081
ISBN-13: 9780300243086
Publisher: Yale University Press
Language: English
Published: 10/29/2019
Pages: 376
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 2.15lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.10w x 1.60d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 09/16/2019
Choice 11/01/2020