Moi And Marie Antoinette

Sebastien relates the life of Marie Antoinette as she goes from being a teenager devoted to him, her pug dog, to becoming the Queen of France and mother to two children.

A captivating novel of rich spectacle and royal scandal, Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow spans fifteen years in the fateful reign of Marie Antoinette, France’s most legendary and notorious queen. Paris, 1774. At the tender age of eighteen, Marie Antoinette ascends to the French throne alongside her husband, Louis XVI. But behind the extravagance of the young queen’s elaborate silk gowns and dizzyingly high coiffures, she harbors deeper fears for her future and that of the Bourbon dynasty. From the early growing pains of marriage to the joy of conceiving a child, from her passion for Swedish military attaché Axel von Fersen to the devastating Affair of the Diamond Necklace, Marie Antoinette tries to rise above the gossip and rivalries that encircle her. But as revolution blossoms in America, a much larger threat looms beyond the gilded gates of Versailles—one that could sweep away the French monarchy forever.

France's iconic queen, Marie Antoinette, wrongly accused of uttering the infamous "Let them eat cake," was alternately revered and reviled during her lifetime. For centuries since, she has been the object of debate, speculation, and the fascination so often accorded illustrious figures in history. Married in mere girlhood, this essentially lighthearted child was thrust onto the royal stage and commanded by circumstance to play a significant role in European history. Antonia Fraser's lavish and engaging portrait excites compassion and regard for all aspects of the queen, immersing the reader not only in the coming-of-age of a graceful woman, but in the culture of an unparalleled time and place.

Marie Antoinette's enchanting Austrian childhood is no prepartion for palace politics in France. When her mother sends her to marry France's future king, she's plunged into a baffling world, far from home. With gossip running rife and revolution in the air, she'll need more than grace and dignity to survive.

The first modern English edition of diverse Enlightenment-era writings by Prussian monarch Frederick the Great Frederick II of Prussia (1712–1786), best known as Frederick the Great, was a prolific writer of philosophical discourses, poems, epics, satires, and more, while maintaining extensive correspondence with prominent intellectuals, Voltaire among them. This edition of selected writings, the first to make a wide range of Frederick’s most important ideas available to a modern English readership, moves beyond traditional attempts to see his work only in light of his political aims. In these pages, we can finally appreciate Frederick’s influential contributions to the European Enlightenment—and his unusual role as a monarch who was also a published author. In addition to Frederick’s major opus, the Anti-Machiavel, the works presented here include essays, prefaces, reviews, and dialogues. The subjects discussed run the gamut from ethics to religion to political theory. Accompanied by critical annotations, the texts show that we can understand Frederick’s views of kingship and the state only if we engage with a broad spectrum of his thought, including his attitudes toward morality and self-love. By contextualizing his arguments and impact on Enlightenment beliefs, this volume considers how we can reconcile Frederick’s innovative public musings with his absolutist rule. Avi Lifschitz provides a robust and detailed introduction that discusses Frederick’s life and work against the backdrop of eighteenth-century history and politics. With its unparalleled scope and cross-disciplinary appeal, Frederick the Great’s Philosophical Writings firmly establishes one monarch’s multifaceted relevance for generations of readers and scholars to come.

". . . [A] behind-the-scenes peek at Versailles . . . and an account of a fraught mother-daughter relationship. . . . [A] graceful guide . . ." - The New York Times This fascinating and poignant collection of letters between Marie Antoinette, the doomed dauphine and future queen of France, and her mother, Maria Theresa, archduchess of Austria and queen of Hungary and Bohemia, provide a revealing portrait of the legendary queen's tragic life and the age in which she lived. Beginning in 1770 when the young princess departed for France and ending with Maria Theresa's death in 1780, these intimate letters reveal the hostility the young dauphine encountered at Versailles, her flouting of court etiquette, and her interference in court politics. Maria Theresa offers her daughter constant advice on everything from matters of state to sex. These remarkable letters are superbly translated by Olivier Bernier, an acclaimed expert on eighteenth-century France, who also provides extensive commentary. "[Marie Antoinette] remains an unforgettable royalist heroine . . . she never fails to move us. [Olivier Bernier's] vision of complicated events is always clear and understandable; his theories of history rethought. . . . Donnez-moi mon Bernier!" - Vogue "[This book] will change our picture of eighteenth-century France and deepen our understanding of power, naiveté, and corruption." - Gloria Steinem.

Describes the life of Marie Antoinette, including her childhood in Austria, her lavish lifestyle, and the Diamond Necklace Affair.