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The Lost King of France: Revolution, Revenge and the Search for Louis XVII | 
 enlarge | Author: Deborah Cadbury
Creator: Hannah Gordon
Publisher: HarperCollins Audio
Category: Book
List Price: £13.99
Buy New: £12.68
You Save: £1.31 (9%)
New (3) Used (3) from £9.32
Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 482841
Format: Audiobook
Media: Audio Cassette
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 5.3 x 4.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 0007156731
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9780007156733
ASIN: 0007156731
Publication Date: October 21, 2002
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Even casual French history readers will notice a discrepancy in the numbering of their kings--Louis XVI goes to the guillotine in the French Revolution; Louis XVIII returns after the defeat of Napoleon. What happened to Louis XVII? That's the subject of Deborah Cadbury's The Lost King of France. Louis-Charles, heir to Louis XVI, automatically became king, in the eyes of French royalists, when his father was guillotined in 1793. He was, however, an eight-year-old boy and at the mercy of the Revolutionary government. Cadbury's vivid and sympathetic account of his imprisonment and the appallingly abusive treatment he received makes for painful reading. In 1795 the boy king died, still in prison. Or did he? For decades afterward pretender after pretender to the throne appeared, claiming that he was the real Louis. He had been rescued and a substitute child had died in the hands of the revolutionaries. Some claimants were ludicrous. (One was a mixed-race Native American from New York.) Others were so convincing that their descendants still have supporters today. "Karl Wilhelm Naundorff" persisted with his claim to his deathbed and beyond. His gravestone boldly states that he was the son of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. In the second half of her book, Cadbury turns from the sad narrative of Louis the Seventeenth's apparently short life to the mystery of his claimed survival. Finally her book becomes a scientific detective story as the tools of modern DNA testing are used to pinpoint the identity of the boy who died in prison and to investigate the genetic make-up of Naundorff. As both the story of a tragic and short life and a record of how science solved one of the greatest puzzles in French history, The Lost King of France works brilliantly. --Nick Rennison
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 Over-rated December 29, 2007
Devon Girl (Exeter)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Deborah Cadbury writes on a wide range of subjects, which may be admirable in itself but is not necessarily a sound basis on which to write a book about that most complex and emotive of historical subjects, the French Revolution. There is no doubt that "Louis XVII" was a victim of the excesses of the times, but then so were most of the leading revolutionaries themselves. The book is interesting on the imposters who claimed to be the son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, and on the part modern forensics have had to play in confirming what happened to him, but Cadbury's indignation has made her too partial. If you want to understand the French Revolution, look elsewhere.
 A true French History of the little forgotten King of France March 19, 2007
Elizabeth D'Souza (Melbourne, Australia)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
My French history teacher first introduced me to this book in 2002 when it was first released. However it wasn't until recently when I really decied to get involved and discover the terrible truth about the treatment of this poor forgotten child.
Cadbury really engages with the reader and offers a true, emotionl insight to the world of a child who one mintue lived a life of complete luxary and then next, was thrown into a sad, depressing, violent world of revolution.
This book is a must for anyone interested on the life and times of the Royal Family and the fate of the favourite son of Marie Antoinette. I really could not put this book down, and was captivate throughout.
A must read!
Highy recomended
One of the best and most disturbing books I've ever read. May 14, 2006
Mr. Db Rayner (STOKE-ON-TRENT, STAFFORDSHIRE United Kingdom)
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book is a truly superbly written historical biography. When I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. Deborah Cadbury writes in a style that holds the reader's attention from beginning to end. The terrible suffering endured by that innocent little boy moved me deeply. How could anyone be so cruel to him as those French revolutionaries were? It was one of the worst injustices in history. Unless you've got a heart like a swinging brick, this book will greatly disturb you and upset you. But it does tell it like it was. France was, after all, in total chaos during the revolution. No one was safe. People in power who were ordering people sent to the guillotine one day could find themselves denounced the next day and sent to the guillotine themselves and no one dare show any sympathy for the cruelly treated little boy in case they were judged to be royalist sympathisers and executed for showing their concern. Perhaps this was the main reason why the boy was allowed to die in such appalling agony. The subject of this book does, however, prove one thing. If there is a God, he certainly doesn't give a damn about any of us, especially suffering little children like Louis Charles.
A magnificently told, true and tragic story February 22, 2006
Mr. K. Papas (London, UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A masterpiece in every sense of the word, the author manages to hook you from the first page and you'll find it well nigh impossible to put down. This book reads like a thriller and Deborah Cadbury somehow manages to interweave historical facts with such suspense and masterful anticipation that I guarantee you'll be bleary eyed the next day. Without any hesitation whatsoever I would recommend this book to not only those who have an interest in history but to anyone that enjoys reading in general. Bravo Deborah for such a remarkably sad but thrilling book.
The Lost King of France March 1, 2005
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I was deeply touched by this book. The tragedy and suffering of the little Louise-Charles, Marie Antoinette, Marie-Therese and Louise XVI brought tears to my eyes. It's a history book, describing facts, but the events of that time, described so well in this book, are just heart-breaking.
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