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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An unputdownable piece of historical non-fiction, October 31, 2002
This review is from: The Lost King of France: A True Story of Revolution, Revenge, and DNA (Hardcover)
It is a rare piece of historical non-fiction that is so gripping it becomes a one-sitting read, as Deborah Cadbury's book does. As Alison Weir's comments on the hardback edition state, it is: `stunningly written'. The book opens with a present day mystery of a heart that is purported to be that of Louis XVII of France - the boy-king - that is (dis)proved by DNA. Rather than giving us the answer immediately the author then tells the story of the downfall of the French Monarchy at the hands of the sans-culottes and the leaders of the French Revolution. Told from the royal perspective, centering on Marie Antoniette, Louis XVI, Louis-Charles (Dauphin and future Louis XVII) and their other immediate family and associates, we are given a story full of immense pathos, where the royal family - clearly depicted as undone by previous French royal excesses and a failing economy - are treatedly brutally at the hands of the revolutionaries. Marie Antoniette is depicted as a naïve young woman of excess, then as a great mother, ultimately as aa Queen of France whose suffering reflects much of the Revolution. Louis XVI is presented as a monarch whose stoical steadfastness to uphold the good of his country costs him the constitution and ultimately his life, Louis-Charles as a boy wise beyond his years - clearly intimated as potentially a great french monarch. The first part of the book is taken up with the history of the french royal family from the moment Maria-Antonia of Austria marries the young Dauphin and follows them as they are vilified, blamed and ultimately killed for the problems assailing France. The story is told from the royal perspective, Cadbury engendering great sympathy with the family, possibly to the extent of presenting a somewhat biased view of the revolutionaries as a brutal regime whose leaders use the anger of the mob to further their own political gain. Drawing mainly on personal testimonies of Clery who served the family during their Parisian imprisonment at Tullieres, The Tower and the Temple, Marie-Therese (daughter of Marie-Antoniette and Louis) and Madame Tourzel, we are given the emotional history of a key point in European history where the author gives a very focused view on the ordeals and depravations of Louis XVI, Marie Antoniette, and finally, in a lengthy section, on Louis-Charles mental and physical abuse. Part 1 ends with the death of Louis-Charles according to the official version given at the time. Part 2 deals with the twenty year period of revolution, Robespierre and Napoleon, culminating in Marie-Therese's (as the sole direct survivor) reentry into Paris as the Queen with the newly crowned Louis XVIII and subsequent re-fleeing. At this point history gives rise to the legend that Louis-Charles did not die (as Dr Pelletan's autopsy initially stated) but rather was substituted with another child. The primary mover of this legend came from Madame Simon, the wife of the man depicted as responsible for much of Louis-Charles systematic abuse who claimed they had smuggled Louis-Charles out in a wicker basket. What resulted was a procession of Dauphin-claimants, the most prominent being Naundorff, Bruneau and Hervagault each of whom claimed to be the long-lost surviving Louis-Charles - to the evident distress of Marie-Therese. As each of these were found guilty of being imposters eventually the rumours and claimants dwindled until twentieth century forensic and, eventually, DNA, technology enabled scientists to coduct tests on the original family, the notable claimants and the preserved heart that Pelletan had taken from the dead boy during the autopsy. This leads us back to the opening statement of the book and the resulting conclusions, based on DNA, seem to give a resolution to the story. What the author has done is present a deeply sympathetic view of the lives of Louis XVI, Marie-Antoniette and Louis-Charles, perhaps seeking to redress the perceptions of them as given in many political articles of the time, and finally, give a satisfactory ending to a mystery that has echoed over the past two hundred years. She has done it in a way that, conclusions aside, is immensely readable and interesting.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
6 Stars and counting - Magnificent history/mystery from one of the best non-fiction writers around, September 17, 2005
This review is from: The Lost King of France: A True Story of Revolution, Revenge, and DNA (Hardcover)
Yet again, huge applause for Deborah Cadbury here, proving her amazing book Terrible Lizard, was not just a fluke. IN this she follows the story of what happened to the boy king Louis XVII of France. A child when his parents Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette went to the guillotine in the French Revolution. The boy king was kept locked up in appalling conditions, solitary confinement with constant maltreatment. By 1795 he was silent, unable to speak, and that same year he died. Therein lies the beginning and end of this book for almost immediately the rumours that the boy who died in that cell was not the King, but an imposter.
Deborah Cadbury, intrigued by this mystery, who died in that cell? and what of all the imposters who harassed the Kings sister until her death, were they really the King returned from exile? Or were they also imposters? This would be a very short book if that was all that Cadbury wrote of. However Cadbury provides us with an excellent background from Marie-Anotnia leaving her Hapsburg home in Austria and arrival in France as Marie-Antoinette, the teenage wife-to-be of the heir to the French throne.
The reasons for the French revolution, the downfall of the house of Bourbon in France, the terrible end of the boy king in his lonely pest-ridden cell and then the rise of the swathe of counterfeit King Louis XVII's and their legal battles over the centuries - indeed right into the 1950's when the last great court battles were fought in France by the main pretenders to the French Throne.
Ironically the last court battle was fought the same year that Crick and Watson discovered the double helix model which is DNA which was finally to prove the veracity of the claim. It has only been in very recent times that DNA science could be used to identify mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from tiny samples provided. MtDNA, unlike DNA, is passed on almost complete from mother to children, there are on average one variation in 33 generations so it is a very stable way of being able to test family linkages.
Cadbury saves the results of the testing to the very last chapters. The last great search for the body of Louis XVII, the painstaking tracking down of his heart which was taken in the the dissection of the body. The search for sources of DNA sources for Marie-Antoinette and her family - and finally the results.
These may not be conclusive as the results suggest. But Cadbury presents all the evidence and makes conclusions which I found convincing, I won't spoil the answer by revealing it, but it will keep you reading to the last page.
This is a phenomenal book, well researched, written with the easily readable style Cadbury showed in Terrible Lizard, and a compelling page turner.
My highest recommendation.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
ALL THE MORE FASCINATING BECAUSE IT IS TRUE, January 23, 2003
This review is from: The Lost King of France: A True Story of Revolution, Revenge, and DNA (Hardcover)
A unique combination of page-turning adventure, history, and modern science provide one of the most satisfying reads to be found. Award-winning journalist Deborah Cadbury has presented the remarkable answer to a question that has baffled the world for over 200 years - the fate of Louis XVII. Plus, her answer is offered in energetic, affecting prose backed by flawless research. Toss in the fact that her story moves with the excitement of a topnotch mystery and you have a stunning book. When Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette rose to the throne in 1774, the 19-year-old king and his 18-year-old queen wept, saying, "God guide and protect us! We are too young to govern." As history reveals, their prayer went unanswered. This true story powerfully evokes the high drama and brutality of the French Revolution, while relating the absorbing account of one family. Ms. Cadbury vividly describes the steps, taken almost unknowingly by the royal family, which led to their incarceration and eventual beheading. The storming of Versailles and the taking of the Bastille are painted with wrenching exactitude as is the imprisonment of the King, the Queen and their two children in the Temple Tower. in Paris. Most heartbreaking of all is the ruthless barbarity endured by the young Dauphin. When Marie Antoinette was beheaded in 1791 her adored son was left to face his abusers alone. Two years later a 10-year-old boy died in a rat infested cell, wasted by neglect and tuberculosis. Leaders of the Revolution declared the boy-king dead - Louis XVII was no more. However, rumors abounded: was the real Dauphin perhaps still alive? Had he somehow escaped and found sanctuary? Over the next 200 years numerous pretenders came forward, all pretending to be the son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Some of them presented almost believable cases, which served only to torment Marie-Therese, the Dauphin's sister. Only recently, a mere two years ago, thanks to our advanced knowledge of DNA the mystery was solved. "The Lost King of France" fascinates not only because the story is so expertly told but because it is true. - Gail Cooke
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