Marie Antoinette: The Making of a French Queen [FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING]. Cet article n’est pas disponible.Marie Antoinette: The Making of a French Queen [FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING]

As new condition gray boards with blue spine lettering contained in an as new condition color illustrated dust jacket. Includes Author Dedication; List of Illustrations; List of Principal Characters; Preface; Conclusion; Epilogue: Ubi Sunt?; Notes; A Bibliographical Essay; Bibliography and Index. Illustrated with a section of color photographic plates and color portrait front and rear endpapers. "A new biography which fundamentally overturns our received wisdom about this famously 'out of touch' queen. Who was the real Marie-Antoinette? Mistrusted and reviled in her own time, today she is portrayed as a frivolous princess incapable of understanding the events which engulfed her. But in this engaging account, John Hardman argues that neither version gets close to the truth. Drawing on new sources, Hardman reveals how Marie-Antoinette played a significant and politically astute role in response to the crisis of the monarchy. She evolved into a queen who knew her own mind: she was embarrassed by the aggressive foreign policy of her brother Joseph II; 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 with repentant radicals to give the constitutional monarchy a fighting chance. For the first time, Hardman looks beyond Marie-Antoinette's glamorous facade and tragic end to show how, in her own inimitable way, the French queen came to exert true influence and power." - from the inner front jacket flap.…