To the Scaffold: The Life of Marie Antoinette

by Carolly Erickson

Book Overview

One of America's foremost writers of literary nonfiction brings us one of history's most misunderstood figures, Marie Antoinette. An extraordinary life . . . Ms. Erickson gives us a likable,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312322054
• ISBN13: 9780312322052
• Release Date: July 2004
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 392 Pages
• Weight: 1.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Poor, spoiled Marie

This biography of Marie Antionette is well-written, well-researched, and quite enjoyable. It portrays Antoinette with as many personality facets as most of have: at times naive, sheltered, spoiled, lonely, materialistic, prideful, humble, cunning, generous... it doesn't show her as the evil Queen that the French made her out to be, nor does it try to show her as purely a victim. (Although, I do pity her unfortunate match with the young Dauphin, Louis XIV - yick!) The last fourth or so of the book gets a little bogged down in political details, and it ends abruptly with Antoinette's death. It left me wanting to know more about her children and what happened next. I am looking for more Carolly Erickson books!

Really interesting....

This was a very interesting, very detailed description of Marie Antoinette. This is the first historical book on the subject that I've read, but I definitely want to find out what happened after the end of the book. I always liked history as a kid, and this book has reopened that facination.

Viva La Antoinette!

"To the Scaffild" meant "To the Guillotine". It is a brilliant account of French revolution, with two heroines, one Lady Liberty and the other its victim Marie Antoinette. Oxford American Dictionary defines guillotine as "a machine with a heavy blade used for beheading criminals in France". criminals? Luois XVI and his unfortunate wife Marie- Antoinette were definetely not criminals To the Scaffold", of course meant "to the guillotine". It is a brilliant account of French revolution. They were the unluckiest royal couple in all of history to get engulfed in a maelstrom of events beyond their control. They were of noble hearts and displayed tremendous courage against severe odds and went to the guillotine with heads high. The famine, bad weather, bankrupt treasury, countless corrupt officials at Versailles, and a inept, brooding Louis in charge. He was weak, lacked leadership and looked to his wife for advise. Antoinette was smart, intelligent but did not know how to govern. She did spend lavishly, foolishly and may have been the true culprit in bringing down the monarchy. But hey, that's what queens are supposed to do. She was so young, innocent, unaware of the treachery at Versailles. She had to learn on the job with no help from the dauphin, who was clumsy, shy, impotent and of weak mind. They were doomed.Louis always believed that the revolutionaries were a minority and people at large loved him and all would be well in the end. Later on as events unfolded they reasoned Austria and Prussia would come to their rescue. That was their undoing, as Parisiners would never let foreigners invade their beloved city and annihilate them. They had to get rid of Louis. His old confidant, a black smith, betrayd him as the national guard found incriminating evidence of plots against the revolution, hidden in a safe. They marched him to guillotine. Innuendoes, rumors did Antoinette in as she was always hated by the populace.... She was called [the] worst names, accused of incest, deprived of her children, and was sentenced to die on trumped of charges of treason. The revolution germinated the day Louis XIV, the sun king, uttered the words, "Le Etas, Ce' moi". Ultimately his great great grand son paid the price. If other countries had intervened in time in the late 1790, the slaughter could have been averted. There would have been no Napolean, the whole history of the world would have been completely different. Edmund Burke so aptly said at that time "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing". Great Read. Highly recommend it for all history buffs.

tragic ending

I have read this book twice and each time I found myself wishing for a different ending.This historical account of one womans life fascinated me to such an extent that I wish to know more.I hope that many others will be able to appreciate this masterpiece

French history is told in a fascinating and riveting manner

This is one of the most interesting and well-written biographies I've ever read. The author describes pre-revolutionary France as Marie-Antoinette came to it, compares many aspects of Versailles with her Austrian homeland, and continues with a captivating and delightfully interesting tale of life at Versailles. The revolution is explained in an easy to follow and fascinating manner. The reader comes to understand and sympathize with the king and queen as well as learn French history as never before told. I could't put this book down