eBook - ePub
The Lost King of France
How DNA Solved the Mystery of the Murdered Son of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette
- 288 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
The Lost King of France
How DNA Solved the Mystery of the Murdered Son of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette
About this book
"Cadbury lays out in fascinating detail the historical mystery of the royal heir . . . and uses modern science to try to solve it." —
The Wall Street Journal
In 1793, when Marie Antoinette was beheaded at the guillotine during the French Revolution, she left her adored eight-year-old son, Louis Charles, 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.
"A winning and highly readable account of the French Revolution." — Publishers Weekly
In 1793, when Marie Antoinette was beheaded at the guillotine during the French Revolution, she left her adored eight-year-old son, Louis Charles, 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.
"A winning and highly readable account of the French Revolution." — Publishers Weekly
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Yes, you can access The Lost King of France by Deborah Cadbury in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Historical Biographies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Title Page
- Table of Contents
- Introduction - THE HEART OF STONE
- PART I
- PART II
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ALSO BY DEBORAH CADBURY
- NOTES ON SOURCES
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- INDEX
- Copyright Page