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120th out of 133 books
—
25 voters
Marie Antoinette: The Last Queen of France
In MARIE ANTOINETTE, Evelyn Lever draws on a variety of resources, including diaries, letters, and firsthand accounts, to write this sumptuous, addictive delight. From family life in Vienna to the choke of the guillotine, this gripping work combines a fast-paced historical narrative with all the elements of scandalous fiction: Marie's wedding at Versailles to Louis XVI, th...more
Paperback, 374 pages
Published
September 24th 2001
by St. Martin's Griffin
(first published January 1st 1996)
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Feb 16, 2008
Lori Renner
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
royalty buffs, history buffs
Recommended to Lori by:
Tim Joganich
I jumped on the Marie Antoinette bandwagon with this book after seeing the movie with Kirsten Dunst--which wonderfully filmed, but not much meat too it. I enjoyed the author's attempt to stay unbiased, although you could tell that she had a soft spot for the queen, she didn't hesitate to point out her flaws. Some of the things she had to go through while she was waiting to be executed were horrible, and almost hard to read about. All in all, although I suspect this book suffered a bit in transla...more
This book looks into Marie Antoinette's life - from how she was raised in Austria, her early years as a young girl thru all years ending with her brutal death in France. As a young girl, she is portrayed to have been a spoilt, frivolous girl, not interested in politics at all. She is used by her mother, the queen of Austria, to be married to the prince, heir apparent of France to have a political leverage. Throughout her life, Marie's mother and brother are shown to be putting pressure on Marie...more
I decided I should occasionally read some non-fiction, just to broaden horizons and all that good stuff. This read was excellent. Intriguing and insightful! I didn't know much about Marie Antoinette, beyond the basics, so this book was fascinating. Here are some tidbits that I learned:
1. Marie Antoinette was the 15th (yep, that's right) child of the Empress of the Austrian empire.
2. Her mom, the Empress, wanted an inside connection with France, and hopefully some control over the throne, so she...more
1. Marie Antoinette was the 15th (yep, that's right) child of the Empress of the Austrian empire.
2. Her mom, the Empress, wanted an inside connection with France, and hopefully some control over the throne, so she...more
I liked this book pretty well. This is the third bigraphy of Marie Antionette I've read, and I have to say Evelyne Lever did a great job researching and accurately depicting the young Queen's life. Her book had a ton of detail, though at times I felt side tracked from the story of Marie Antoinette as Lever tended to delve a bit too much into the lives of the other surrounding characters. Unfortunately, this lead to both the book being drawn out, and my loss of interest. I'm glad it wasn't the fi...more
Picked this up at random for the holiday, and was riveted. I loved the way the author mixed the extraordinary personal saga of the hapless queen with a strong analysis of the broader political situation. I was stunned to learn, for example, that a large measure of France's woes came from the monarchs' financial support for the American Revolution (as a way to harass their mutual British enemy), which was a far larger factor in the French economic crisis than the Queen's more conspicuous frivolit...more
Stunning how ill prepared for leadership the King and Queen were; neither one of them showed any curiosity about the world outside the gates of their palaces and chateaus. They also showed a remarkable lack of political savvy. Did they deserve to lose their heads? This book doesn't answer that question. It is sympathetic to the monarchy and does not go into the people's reasons for revolt. It does seem clear that in her early years at Versailles Marie Antoinette was an empty headed young princes...more
Jul 23, 2010
Marie Capet
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Francophiles, harcore Marie Antoinette fans
Marie Antoinette: The Last Queen of France (Paperback)
by Evelyne Lever
What I liked: I liked a history from a French perspective. I'd read too many from Brits and Americans and that can skew a girl's perspectives.
I also liked the little details i hadn't yet read, like her spats with Madame de Polignac regarding Lomenie de Brienne.
What gave me pause: I don't think she liked Marie Antoinette much (I'm going to get in trouble for that, I know). And I feel like, as an historian, she didn't look...more
by Evelyne Lever
What I liked: I liked a history from a French perspective. I'd read too many from Brits and Americans and that can skew a girl's perspectives.
I also liked the little details i hadn't yet read, like her spats with Madame de Polignac regarding Lomenie de Brienne.
What gave me pause: I don't think she liked Marie Antoinette much (I'm going to get in trouble for that, I know). And I feel like, as an historian, she didn't look...more
One of my few voyages into the dense world of biography. MA is THE archetypal giant of the wealthy's gross indulgence and profound indifference to the common man. But Marie's situation is really very close to...if your stupidest bubblegum girlfriend, you know...the one reading Marie Claire while you try to explain your ineffable sorrows about the universe, looking up only to inquire after your opinion on Reese Witherspoon's bangs... were to be given a rather important political position. And jus...more
In MARIE ANTOINETTE, Evelyn Lever draws on a variety of resources, including diaries, letters, and firsthand accounts, to write this sumptuous, addictive delight. From family life in Vienna to the choke of the guillotine, this gripping work combines a fast-paced historical narrative with all the elements of scandalous fiction: Marie's wedding at Versailles to Louis XVI, the French court, boredom, hypocrisy, loneliness, allies, enemies, scandal, intrigue, sex, peasant riots, the fall of the Basti...more
I clearly remember my Contemporary History classes at college when my Professor showed us draws done by Republicans execrating Marie Antoinette's persona. I remember because that shocked me a lot; I could not understand how a person, a woman, a mother and a queen would fall so low in the view of her own people. That was when my interest in her figure started and as soon as I began reading articles and biographies about her, she became one of my favorite characters in History. This book by the Fr...more
Yawn!! This is an example of how an author can make such a fascinating woman's life boring with minutia. I now know more about her childhood and everyone in her family and everyone else who lived in Austria and France during her life than I ever wanted to know. And, sadly, as quickly forgot them. I felt as if Lever needed to put in every detail she found in her research and in doing so made this more of a list of details and less of a description of the life of a monarch who has fascinated gener...more
When I attended the opera The Ghosts of Versailles a few weeks ago, I realized that I knew very little about the real Marie Antoinette. Fortunately I picked this excellent biography to learn something about her. Lever is quite sympathetic but entirely realistic about the last queen of France. It's an intimate, well-rounded portrait, sharply focused on M.A. but also taking in the politics, the culture, and the times and backed up by solid research and references.
I found this book to be so well written that I lost myself in the story. I could almost forget it was nonfiction and found myself increasingly concerned that it would not end well for my heroine. The biography of Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser was the basis for the Sofia Coppola movie that was released a couple of years ago and it is nearly as good, but I preferred this version. Well worth reading and then follow up with
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. You're in for some fine readin...more
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. You're in for some fine readin...more
I love anything to do with MA, her character and life is very intriguing to me & I've had this book on my shelf for ages after buying it from a Library book sale.
I'm very interested in reading different interpretations and opinions of the Queen & Évelyne Lever obviously has a soft spot for her. A soft spot, that I must say I do share! It's not quite as in-depth as other MA Biographies (IE. Antonia Fraser's The Journey), however it is highly focused on Marie Antoinette and her life and g...more
I'm very interested in reading different interpretations and opinions of the Queen & Évelyne Lever obviously has a soft spot for her. A soft spot, that I must say I do share! It's not quite as in-depth as other MA Biographies (IE. Antonia Fraser's The Journey), however it is highly focused on Marie Antoinette and her life and g...more
I didn't enjoy this biography about Marie Antoinette very much, despite a valiant try to do so. I found it to be rather frivolous and fluffy, and not that interesting. Others opinions may be different however.
For the complete review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/review/Marie_...
For the complete review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/review/Marie_...
This was a quick read and very entertaining. Although the detail was good, I think other books probably cover this subject more in-depth. Lever did a lot of research for this book but doesn't bog down her writing with every little fact she ever found out. To me, this book seemed at times objective but many times appeared to be sympathetic to Marie A. I came away feeling that, though she did do many things that were wrong, she really was a victim of her times. I never felt like she was malicious...more
Jan 31, 2011
Vickie
added it
I really liked it as it told all the many factors that led to her execution. It also swept away the myth that she had done anything wrong to deserve how she ended up. It shows what rumors, jealousy, fear and mass hysteria can do. I am glad I did not live back then.
Generally I am not a non-fiction reader however after reading a historical fiction on Marie Antoinette I choose to read this to separate the fact from fiction. There are lots of historical letters and interesting facts that keep this read up beat and easy.
Sucked. She was biased and clearly did not like Marie Antoinette. Antonia Fraser's Marie Antoinette the journey, which is the book that inspired the film written and directed by Sofia Coppola and starring Kirsten Dunst.
I read this book when it first came out in the US, and I LOVED it. Lever does a fantastic job analyzing Marie Antoinette's life, the problems that plagued her marriage, and more.
Evelyne Lever was meticulous in her research and detail. Marie Antoinette came alive - it was as it I was sitting beside her during all of her transition. Excellent read.
A very interesting account of this young Queen's life. I knew how her life ended but I didn't know how it was lived. A fascinating, well written non-fiction read.
Enjoyed learning more about Marie Antoinette's personal life and about her relationship with her husband Louis the 16th. I wish it read more like a novel - a lot of facts & listed off similarly to the style in The Lemon Tree - but still thoroughly enjoyed the learning. Regardless of her follies, I have a new respect for the last Queen of France (Antonia from Versaille).
This biography was not nearly as comprehensive as Antonia Fraser's, but it was still an interesting read, and focused on different aspects than AF's.
Makes a lot more of the randomness in the movie make more sense. It was hard to make it through the end, knowing the inevitable conclusion recounted by history.
This book really makes you stop and wonder what it was to be the queen of France. It's tagic how she had no training for the role she was forced into it and then held responsible for poor decisions.
This was my first biography of M.A., and it piqued my interest to learn more. I found it well-balanced, well-researched, and well-written, though I think some of the oomph was lost in translation.
Finally a sympathetic biographer. One of the best biographies written about this enigmatic and fascinating queen. Highly recommend.
Vivid portrait of lavish life at Versailles.her dignity and courage in a life of disastrous historical circumstances.
I read this book to get a glimpse at the life of a queen. It was like reading an autobiography of Paris Hilton except she was the ruler of a country. She was stupid, vain, given to manias that she would then grow bored with. She had an entire village built on one of her estates. There was a tannery, a chicken coop, a barn (that was really a ballroom)and she employed people to watch the animals. She could have put the money to better use by giving it to an actual village that needed it. She only...more
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Évelyne Lever est une historienne contemporaine.
Elle occupait la fonction d'ingénieur de recherche au C.N.R.S. et devient spécialiste de l'histoire du XVIIIe siècle. Elle est aussi l'auteur de nombreux livres sur la vie de Marie Antoinette et de Louis XVI.
Passionnée par la vie de certaines femmes du XVIIIe siècle (comme la favorite de Louis XV Madame de Pompadour), Évelyne Lever retrace dans certa...more
More about Évelyne Lever...
Elle occupait la fonction d'ingénieur de recherche au C.N.R.S. et devient spécialiste de l'histoire du XVIIIe siècle. Elle est aussi l'auteur de nombreux livres sur la vie de Marie Antoinette et de Louis XVI.
Passionnée par la vie de certaines femmes du XVIIIe siècle (comme la favorite de Louis XV Madame de Pompadour), Évelyne Lever retrace dans certa...more
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Jul 28, 2011 09:58pm