The
Lost King of France: A True
Story of Revolution, Revenge, and DNA
by Deborah Cadbury
Book
Description
Royalty,
revolution, and scientific mystery---the dramatic
true account of the fate of Louis XVII, son
of Marie Antoinette, and an extraordinary detective
story that spans more than two hundred years.
Louis-Charles,
Duc de Normandie, enjoyed a charmed early childhood
in the gilded palace of Versailles. At the age
of four, he became the dauphin, heir to the
most powerful throne in Europe. Yet within five
years he was to lose everything. Drawn into
the horror of the French Revolution, his family
was incarcerated and their fate thrust into
the hands of the revolutionaries who wished
to destroy the monarchy.
In
1793, when Marie Antoinette was beheaded at
the guillotine, she left her adored eight-year-old
son imprisoned in the Temple Tower. Far from
inheriting a throne, the orphaned boy-king had
to endure the hostility and abuse of a nation.
Two years later, the revolutionary leaders declared
Louis XVII dead. No grave was dug, no monument
built to mark his passing.
Immediately,
rumors spread that the prince had, in fact,
escaped from prison and was still alive. Others
believed that he had been murdered, his heart
cut out and preserved as a relic. As with the
tragedies of England's princes in the Tower
and the Romanov archduchess Anastasia, countless
"brothers" soon approached Louis-Charles's
older sister, Marie-Therese, who survived the
revolution. They claimed not only the dauphin's
name, but also his inheritance. Several "princes"
were plausible, but which, if any, was the real
heir to the French throne?
The Lost King of France is a moving and dramatic
tale that interweaves a pivotal moment in France's
history with a compelling detective story that
involves pretenders to the crown, royalist plots
and palace intrigue, bizarre legal battles,
and modern science. The quest for the truth
continued into the twenty-first century, when,
thanks to DNA testing, the strange odyssey of
a stolen heart found within the royal tombs
brought an exciting conclusion to the two-hundred-year-old
mystery of the lost king of France. |
Reviews
Excerpt From
Book Book
Description Author
Buy
Editorial
Review
From
Publishers Weekly
British
writer Cadbury (Terrible
Lizard: The First Dinosaur Hunters and
the Birth of a New Science) sets
out to unravel a historical mystery  in
this winning, highly readable account
of the French Revolution and the fate
of the dauphin, the son of the executed
King Louis XVI. Cadbury dramatically relates
how the French monarchy moved inexorably
toward the abyss of 1789; she describes
the seizure of the Bastille, the royal
family's imprisonment in the Temple and
the execution of the king and queen.
But
what became of their son? According to
the official account, Louis XVII remained
in solitary confinement in a filthy, vermin-infested
prison cell, where he contracted tuberculosis
and died at age 10 in June 1795; bizarrely,
the physician who performed the autopsy
literally, and fortuitously, stole the
boy's heart. Yet millions believed that
the prince had escaped, and over the years,
hundreds came forward claiming to be the
dauphin.
Not
until two centuries later, with advances
in forensic science, was the mystery of
Louis XVII's fate finally solved... Cadbury
does an exemplary job describing the history,
the mystery and the tragic fate of Louis
XVII. 8 pages of b&w photos.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information,
Inc.
Review
"A first-class read--informative,
entertaining, and a great, grand adventure.
Most noteworthy." (Margaret George,
bestselling author of The Autobiography
of Henry VIII and The Memoirs of Cleopatra)
"A
fascinating and well told story that reads
with great interest and pleasure."
--Ian Dunlop, acclaimed biographer
"Unputdownable...I
cannot recommend this too highly."
--Maureen Waller, popular historian
"[A]
fascinating account of a child victim
of revolutionary brutality...Authoritative,
lucid and utterly absorbing." --Anne
Somerset, author of the bestselling biography
Elizabeth I
"An
absorbing tale, combining sound history
and modern science." --John Hardman,
author of Robespierre and Louis XVI
About
the Author
Deborah
Cadbury is an award-winning journalist
specializing in the fundamental issues
of science and history and their effects
on today's society. She is also the author
of the highly acclaimed books Terrible
Lizard and The Estrogen Effect. She has
produced science programs for BBC television
and has won numerous international science
film awards, including an Emmy. She lives
in London. |
|
