List price: $26.00 (that's 30% off!)
Although towards the latter part of his life he came to stoop very low, he had, as a young man, decades earlier, reached out very high unto the stars with unwavering courage and determination in his conquest of Scotland and England. His defeat at Culloden in 1746 precipitated tragically what can only be described as the genocide of the Scottish Highlanders.
What a life! The life of Bonnie Prince Charlie is a study of human nature at its extreme. Belatedly, devastatingly, he found out the cruel fact that despite his forceful, determined personality, he was not the master of his own destiny. Be that as it may, he came to be vindicated.
This is a magnificent book of a great, albeit obscure, tragic figure of history.
Miguel A. Faria, Jr., M.D. is Editor-in-Chief of the Medical Sentinel of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), and author of Vandals at the Gates of Medicine (1995) and Medical Warrior: Fighting Corporate Socialized Medicine (1997).
As always, Erickson writes entertaining non-fiction. This appears to be out of print at the moment, but grab it and any other Erickson titles as fast as you can.
Louis always believed that the revolutionaries were a minority and people at large loved him and all would be well in the end. Later on as events unfolded they reasoned Austria and Prussia would come to their rescue. That was their undoing, as Parisiners would never let foreigners invade their beloved city and annihilate them. They had to get rid of Louis. His old confidant, a black smith, betrayd him as the national guard found incriminating evidence of plots against the revolution, hidden in a safe. They marched him to guillotine.
Innuendoes, rumors did Antoinette in as she was always hated by the populace.... She was called [the] worst names, accused of incest, deprived of her children, and was sentenced to die on trumped of charges of treason.
The revolution germinated the day Louis XIV, the sun king, uttered the words, "Le Etas, Ce' moi". Ultimately his great great grand son paid the price. If other countries had intervened in time in the late 1790, the slaughter could have been averted. There would have been no Napolean, the whole history of the world would have been completely different. Edmund Burke so aptly said at that time "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing".
Great Read. Highly recommend it for all history buffs.
Erickson thoroughly covers Marie Antoinette's life from her youth in Austria to her last tumultuous days. As well, there are little additions about life in Versailles, and on the Paris streets.
One definite asset that this biography possesses is that one does not need much prior information about the Revolution to understand it. Different political ideologies, thoughts, and actions are carefully explained, yet the general flow of the book generally does not sway too far from Antoinette. This biography was also enjoyable to read because of the numerous (and sometimes amusing) quotations used, as well as the in-depth account of Antoinette's last days.
The only noticeable fault that I found was the tendency of the author to take sides. For example, it is said (with evidence provided in the footnotes) that Marie Antoinette and Fersen most definitely had an affair. This is, in my opinion, still a debatable topic.
Nonetheless, I highly recommend this biography to everyone. Novices to the revolution will find it an invaluable starting point, and the more knowledgeable will greatly enjoy the quotations and first-hand accounts recorded.
List price: $17.95 (that's 30% off!)
List price: $17.95 (that's 30% off!)
List price: $17.95 (that's 30% off!)
My only complaint would be overindulgence in trivial detail, e.g., her "rotten teeth" and "fading beauty." No one really likes aging, do they?
Carolly Erickson draws the reader into the life and very turbulent times of the French Revolution. It is amazing that Josephine became the Empress of France.
Josephine Bonaparte was a true surviver for her time, even growing up on a failing sugar cane farm on Martinique and later in France as a prisoner. Unlike many biographies that I have read, this one reads easy. What I mean there is a fluid way in which Erickson writes, drawing in the reader like any good fiction novelist. I quickly read this book, devouring every page.