I did feel that this book read with the fluidity and development of a novel it was very enjoyable. The resultant regicide is intolerable and this book really makes you fall in love with Marie Antoinette and her husband and all the more sad at their fate.

On one hand you feel sorry for the huge class of impoverished, starving people and on the other hand, the inability of the nobility to understand its causes makes you still sorrier for their lack of education. This book was very unbiased in projecting both sides of the Revolution.

Being as the French Revolution is the catalyst for Marie Antionette's fame and tragedy, this book brought to light the plight of the people and the monarchy who other than inheriting power, are very ill qualified to deal with issues of economics. Her young life is spoiled and frivilous and for the most part silly! She does however mature into a very regal and dignified woman of compassion and depth. She was a real martyr of the French Revolution and an example of a truly majestic and heroic queen, wife, and mother.Īdmittedly I knew nothing about Marie Antoinette before I read this book. Whatever her faults, she was full of qualities that we can admire today. The best part is the very end when he describes her trial and execution. Ultimately, Castelot does sympathize with Marie Antoinette. Castelot does imply that some of these accusations might be true, such as her alleged affair with Axel von Fersen or her supposed frivolity (whatever that means). Malicious pamphleteers spread many baseless accusations against Marie Antoinette before and during the Revolution. For the average educated Frenchman, there would be no need to explain further, but it might be difficult for a non-French reader to follow his narrative. He mentions in passing the many controversies about her life before and during the Revolution without explaining them. Castelot shows the evil of some revolutionaries but is careful not to take too hard a position against the Revolution - a difficult task when the satanic malice of the French Revolution was so well documented. Unlike most 19th century French historians, he tries to take a more neutral position towards the French Revolution and its victims.

It is very lively and interesting, with lots of actual dialogue. He wrote it in the 1950s for a popular French audience. His style was more that of a journalist and a playwright than that of a professional historian. André Castelot wrote a decent biography of Marie Antoinette.

Marie Antoinette by André Castelot