Marie-Antoinette

John Hardman is one of the world’s leading experts on the French Revolution and the author of several distinguished books on the subject.

“Marie-Antoinette: The Making of a French Queen presents [Marie-Antoinette] as much more than a symbol whose meaning is in the eye of her beholder. In Hardman’s telling she is neither martyr nor voluptuary but rather a serious participant in politics.”—Lynn Hunt, New York Review of Books“Hardman utilises years of researching the fall of the French monarchy, weaving in accounts by those who knew, loved or loathed Marie Antoinette, to offer a broadly convincing portrait of a woman who ‘inspired loyalty in strangers who were willing to risk their lives for her, even when the chances of success were slight.’ It is a thought-provoking portrait of a brave, well-intentioned, if often misguided queen.”—Gareth Russell,  Times (UK)“Splendid. . . . Masterly. . . . A wonderfully gripping biography.”—Allan Massie, Wall Street Journal“[A] splendid biography. . . . It sheds genuine new light on a celebrated and tragic figure whose faults did not merit the appalling fate she suffered.”—Munro Price, Literary Review“The impressive depth of Hardman’s knowledge of the old regime’s factional court politics makes it essential reading for anyone who wants to know more about the decision-making that led France into revolution—decisions in which the queen played an active part.”—Marisa Linton, BBC History Magazine“In his new biography of the queen, John Hardman goes beyond the cliches of Marie-Antoinette’s life—the enormous wigs, her extravagant spending and ‘let them eat cake’—to reveal her as a political mover and shaker with real influence, particularly during the last months of the French monarchy.”—Laura O’Brien, History Today“It is worth making time for John Hardman’s Marie-Antoinette. . . . A well written and sympathetic life of a woman out of her depth in the world of politics, and a good companion piece to the same author’s life of her husband Louis XVI.”—Jonathan Sumption, Spectator, “Books of the Year”“Hardman is far more than a biographer, his works are key to understanding the politics of the reign of Louis XVI. Steeped in the original sources and well able to decode the plots and schemes of the factions, this is both an entertaining and convincing new interpretation of the tragic Queen.”—Peter Campbell, author of Power and Politics in Old Regime France“Superb. Hardman draws upon his vast knowledge of the period to present a new, deeply researched and compelling portrait of a much-maligned queen.”—Julian Swann, author of Exile, Imprisonment, or Death“A fresh perspective grounded in robust scholarship, Marie-Antoinette offers readers new insight into the political role of the last Queen of France.”—Will Bashor, author of Marie Antoinette’s Darkest Days