Marie-Antoinette

'Excellent biography' New York Times Bringing to life one of the most complex characters in European history Stefan Zweig's definitive biography gives us Marie Antoinette in the King's bedroom, in the enchanted and extravagant worlds of the Trianon and Versailles, and with her children. And in his account of 'The Revolution', he describes her resolve during the failed escape to Varennes, her imprisonment in the Conciergerie and her final tragic destiny under the guillotine. Sensitively and acutely, Zweig analyzes the chemistry of a woman's soul from her intimate pleasures to her public suffering as a Queen under the weight of misfortune and history. Zweig based his biography of Marie Antoinette, who became the Queen of France at the age of fifteen, on the correspondence between her and her mother, and her great love the Count Axel von Fersen. His account has become the definitive biography of Marie Antoinette since its publication, inspiring Antonia Fraser and Sofia Coppola's film adaptation. Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe. Translated by Eden and Cedar Paul. Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) was born in Vienna, into a wealthy Austrian-Jewish family. He studied in Berlin and Vienna and was first known as a poet and translator, then as a biographer. Zweig travelled widely, living in Salzburg between the wars, and was an international bestseller with a string of hugely popular novellas including Letter from an Unknown Woman , Amok and Fear . In 1934, with the rise of Nazism, he moved to London, where he wrote his only novel Beware of Pity . He later moved on to Bath, taking British citizenship after the outbreak of the Second World War. With the fall of France in 1940 Zweig left Britain for New York, before settling in Brazil, where in 1942 he and his wife were found dead in an apparent double suicide. Much of his work is available from Pushkin Press.

'Excellent biography' New York Times Bringing to life one of the most complex characters in European history Stefan Zweig's definitive biography gives us Marie Antoinette in the King's bedroom, in the enchanted and extravagant worlds of the Trianon and Versailles, and with her children. And in his account of 'The Revolution', he describes her resolve during the failed escape to Varennes, her imprisonment in the Conciergerie and her final tragic destiny under the guillotine. Sensitively and acutely, Zweig analyzes the chemistry of a woman's soul from her intimate pleasures to her public suffering as a Queen under the weight of misfortune and history. Zweig based his biography of Marie Antoinette, who became the Queen of France at the age of fifteen, on the correspondence between her and her mother, and her great love the Count Axel von Fersen. His account has become the definitive biography of Marie Antoinette since its publication, inspiring Antonia Fraser and Sofia Coppola's film adaptation. Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe. Translated by Eden and Cedar Paul. Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) was born in Vienna, into a wealthy Austrian-Jewish family. He studied in Berlin and Vienna and was first known as a poet and translator, then as a biographer. Zweig travelled widely, living in Salzburg between the wars, and was an international bestseller with a string of hugely popular novellas including Letter from an Unknown Woman , Amok and Fear . In 1934, with the rise of Nazism, he moved to London, where he wrote his only novel Beware of Pity . He later moved on to Bath, taking British citizenship after the outbreak of the Second World War. With the fall of France in 1940 Zweig left Britain for New York, before settling in Brazil, where in 1942 he and his wife were found dead in an apparent double suicide. Much of his work is available from Pushkin Press.

'Drama, betrayal, religion and sex, it's all here ... Fascinating' GUARDIAN 'Beautifully paced, impeccably written ... Don't miss it' INDEPENDENT 'Fraser is at her best here, lucid, authoritative and compassionate' SUNDAY TIMES 'Superbly researched ... the definitive work on the ill-fated queen' CATHOLIC HERALD Marie Antoinette's dramatic life-story continues to arouse fascination and controversy . To many people, she is still 'la reine méchante', whose extravagance and frivolity helped to bring down the French monarchy; her indifference to popular suffering epitomised by the (apocryphal) words: 'let them eat cake'. Others are equally passionate in her defence: to them, she is a victim of misogyny. In this gripping biography, Antonia Fraser examines her influence over the king, Louis XVI, the accusations and sexual slurs made against her, her patronage of the arts which enhanced French cultural life, her imprisonment, the death threats made against her, rumours of lesbian affairs, her trial (during which her young son was forced to testify to sexual abuse by his mother) and her eventual execution by guillotine in 1793. This is the only book you need to read on Marie Antoinette, one of the most iconic and divisive characters in history.

'Drama, betrayal, religion and sex, it's all here ... Fascinating' GUARDIAN 'Beautifully paced, impeccably written ... Don't miss it' INDEPENDENT 'Fraser is at her best here, lucid, authoritative and compassionate' SUNDAY TIMES 'Superbly researched ... the definitive work on the ill-fated queen' CATHOLIC HERALD Marie Antoinette's dramatic life-story continues to arouse fascination and controversy . To many people, she is still 'la reine méchante', whose extravagance and frivolity helped to bring down the French monarchy; her indifference to popular suffering epitomised by the (apocryphal) words: 'let them eat cake'. Others are equally passionate in her defence: to them, she is a victim of misogyny. In this gripping biography, Antonia Fraser examines her influence over the king, Louis XVI, the accusations and sexual slurs made against her, her patronage of the arts which enhanced French cultural life, her imprisonment, the death threats made against her, rumours of lesbian affairs, her trial (during which her young son was forced to testify to sexual abuse by his mother) and her eventual execution by guillotine in 1793. This is the only book you need to read on Marie Antoinette, one of the most iconic and divisive characters in history.