Marie Antoinette's Darkest Days
Prisoner No. 280 in the Conciergerie
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Marie Antoinette's Darkest Days
Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Aaron Killian
-
By:
-
Will Bashor
About this listen
This compelling book begins on the 2nd of August 1793, the day Marie Antoinette was torn from her family's arms and escorted from the Temple to the Conciergerie, a thick-walled fortress turned prison. It was also known as the "waiting room for the guillotine" because prisoners only spent a day or two here before their conviction and subsequent execution. The ex-queen surely knew her days were numbered, but she could never have known that two and a half months would pass before she would finally stand trial and be convicted of the most ungodly charges.
Will Bashor traces the final days of the prisoner registered only as Widow Capet, No. 280, a time that was a cruel mixture of grandeur, humiliation, and terror. Marie Antoinette's reign amidst the splendors of the court of Versailles is a familiar story, but her final imprisonment in a fetid, dank dungeon is a little-known coda to a once-charmed life. Her 76 days in this terrifying prison can only be described as the darkest and most horrific of the fallen queen's life, vividly recaptured in this richly researched history.
The book is published by Rowman & Littlefield.
©2016 Rowman and Littlefield (P)2017 Redwood AudiobooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
In the Shadow of the Empress
- The Defiant Lives of Maria Theresa, Mother of Marie Antoinette, and Her Daughters
- By: Nancy Goldstone
- Narrated by: Emma Newman
- Length: 23 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 158
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 134
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 133
The vibrant, sprawling saga of Empress Maria Theresa - one of the most renowned women rulers in history - and three of her extraordinary daughters, including Marie Antoinette, the doomed queen of France.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Awful narration!
- By Suanne Laqueur on 09-27-21
By: Nancy Goldstone
-
The Ship of Dreams
- The Sinking of the Titanic and the End of the Edwardian Era
- By: Mr. Gareth Russell
- Narrated by: Jenny Funnell
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 256
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 216
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 214
In this original and meticulously researched narrative history, the author of the “stunning” (The Sunday Times) Young and Damned and Fair uses the sinking of the Titanic as a prism through which to examine the end of the Edwardian era and the seismic shift modernity brought to the Anglo-American world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
One of my favorites
- By M. M. Jones on 04-13-20
-
The Three Musketeers (AmazonClassics Edition)
- By: Alexandre Dumas, William Robson - translator
- Narrated by: Guy Mott
- Length: 27 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 159
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 134
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 135
Young nobleman d’Artagnan has arrived in Paris intent on joining the guardians of King Louis XIII. He befriends the regiment’s most formidable musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, and together they unite in their commitment to uphold justice. Soon, a royal indiscretion thrusts them into an audacious escapade of courtly intrigue, thwarted romance, and daring rescue. But it’s the Machiavellian schemes of a powerful enemy and the wicked seductions of an ingenious female spy that will be their greatest challenges.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
terrible narrator. every comma is a 3 second pause
- By Anonymous User on 09-21-21
By: Alexandre Dumas, and others
-
City of Light, City of Poison
- Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris
- By: Holly Tucker
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 698
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 622
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 620
Appointed to conquer the "crime capital of the world", the first police chief of Paris faces an epidemic of murder in the late 1600s. Assigned by Louis XIV, Nicolas de La Reynie begins by clearing the streets of filth and installing lanterns throughout Paris, turning it into the City of Light. The fearless La Reynie pursues criminals through the labyrinthine neighborhoods of the city. He unearths a tightly knit cabal of poisoners, witches, and renegade priests.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great historic non-fiction
- By Josette Luvmour on 07-01-17
By: Holly Tucker
-
Anne Boleyn
- The Final 24 hours
- By: Marcella Mayfair
- Narrated by: Linda Armstrong
- Length: 3 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 25
This is the story of the dramatic final 24 hours of the life of Anne Boleyn. The story is told in a compelling minute by minute countdown which ends with her final walk to the scaffold, and her beheading by the hangman of Calais' sword. The book describes the actions and thoughts of some the leading players during those final 24 hours including Thomas Cranmer, Chapuys, Jane Seymour, Lady Mary, Sir William Kingston, Thomas Wyatt and, of course, the three principle players.
By: Marcella Mayfair
-
The Romanovs
- 1613-1918
- By: Simon Sebag Montefiore
- Narrated by: Simon Beale
- Length: 28 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,315
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,182
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,177
This is the intimate story of 20 tsars and tsarinas, some touched by genius, some by madness, but all inspired by holy autocracy and imperial ambition. Simon Sebag Montefiore's gripping chronicle reveals their secret world of unlimited power and ruthless empire building, overshadowed by palace conspiracy, family rivalries, sexual decadence, and wild extravagance, with a global cast of adventurers, courtesans, revolutionaries, and poets, from Ivan the Terrible to Tolstoy and Pushkin.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Scholarly but gripping
- By William on 06-16-16
-
In the Shadow of the Empress
- The Defiant Lives of Maria Theresa, Mother of Marie Antoinette, and Her Daughters
- By: Nancy Goldstone
- Narrated by: Emma Newman
- Length: 23 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 158
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 134
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 133
The vibrant, sprawling saga of Empress Maria Theresa - one of the most renowned women rulers in history - and three of her extraordinary daughters, including Marie Antoinette, the doomed queen of France.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Awful narration!
- By Suanne Laqueur on 09-27-21
By: Nancy Goldstone
-
The Ship of Dreams
- The Sinking of the Titanic and the End of the Edwardian Era
- By: Mr. Gareth Russell
- Narrated by: Jenny Funnell
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 256
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 216
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 214
In this original and meticulously researched narrative history, the author of the “stunning” (The Sunday Times) Young and Damned and Fair uses the sinking of the Titanic as a prism through which to examine the end of the Edwardian era and the seismic shift modernity brought to the Anglo-American world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
One of my favorites
- By M. M. Jones on 04-13-20
-
The Three Musketeers (AmazonClassics Edition)
- By: Alexandre Dumas, William Robson - translator
- Narrated by: Guy Mott
- Length: 27 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 159
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 134
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 135
Young nobleman d’Artagnan has arrived in Paris intent on joining the guardians of King Louis XIII. He befriends the regiment’s most formidable musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, and together they unite in their commitment to uphold justice. Soon, a royal indiscretion thrusts them into an audacious escapade of courtly intrigue, thwarted romance, and daring rescue. But it’s the Machiavellian schemes of a powerful enemy and the wicked seductions of an ingenious female spy that will be their greatest challenges.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
terrible narrator. every comma is a 3 second pause
- By Anonymous User on 09-21-21
By: Alexandre Dumas, and others
-
City of Light, City of Poison
- Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris
- By: Holly Tucker
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 698
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 622
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 620
Appointed to conquer the "crime capital of the world", the first police chief of Paris faces an epidemic of murder in the late 1600s. Assigned by Louis XIV, Nicolas de La Reynie begins by clearing the streets of filth and installing lanterns throughout Paris, turning it into the City of Light. The fearless La Reynie pursues criminals through the labyrinthine neighborhoods of the city. He unearths a tightly knit cabal of poisoners, witches, and renegade priests.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great historic non-fiction
- By Josette Luvmour on 07-01-17
By: Holly Tucker
-
Anne Boleyn
- The Final 24 hours
- By: Marcella Mayfair
- Narrated by: Linda Armstrong
- Length: 3 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 25
This is the story of the dramatic final 24 hours of the life of Anne Boleyn. The story is told in a compelling minute by minute countdown which ends with her final walk to the scaffold, and her beheading by the hangman of Calais' sword. The book describes the actions and thoughts of some the leading players during those final 24 hours including Thomas Cranmer, Chapuys, Jane Seymour, Lady Mary, Sir William Kingston, Thomas Wyatt and, of course, the three principle players.
By: Marcella Mayfair
-
The Romanovs
- 1613-1918
- By: Simon Sebag Montefiore
- Narrated by: Simon Beale
- Length: 28 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,315
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,182
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,177
This is the intimate story of 20 tsars and tsarinas, some touched by genius, some by madness, but all inspired by holy autocracy and imperial ambition. Simon Sebag Montefiore's gripping chronicle reveals their secret world of unlimited power and ruthless empire building, overshadowed by palace conspiracy, family rivalries, sexual decadence, and wild extravagance, with a global cast of adventurers, courtesans, revolutionaries, and poets, from Ivan the Terrible to Tolstoy and Pushkin.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Scholarly but gripping
- By William on 06-16-16
-
How to Ruin a Queen
- Marie Antoinette and the Diamond Necklace Affair
- By: Jonathan Beckman
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
In 1785, a sensational trial began in Paris that would divide the country and captivate Europe. A leading Catholic cardinal and scion of one of the most distinguished families in France stood accused of forging the queen's signature to obtain the most expensive piece of jewelry in Europe: a 2,800-carat diamond necklace. Where were the diamonds? Was the cardinal innocent? Was, for that matter, the queen?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A History Buff's Guilty Pleasure
- By Kathy on 12-31-14
By: Jonathan Beckman
-
Peter the Great
- His Life and World
- By: Robert K. Massie
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 43 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,205
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,020
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,009
This superbly told story brings to life one of the most remarkable rulers––and men––in all of history and conveys the drama of his life and world. The Russia of Peter's birth was very different from the Russia his energy, genius, and ruthlessness shaped. Crowned co-Tsar as a child of ten, after witnessing bloody uprisings in the streets of Moscow, he would grow up propelled by an unquenchable curiosity, everywhere looking, asking, tinkering, and learning, fired by Western ideas.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Narrater ruins everything
- By BrendaLouQuilts on 12-30-11
By: Robert K. Massie
-
The Lost King of France
- How DNA Solved the Mystery of the Murdered Son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
- By: Deborah Cadbury
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 46
Louis-Charles, Duc de Normandie, enjoyed a charmed early childhood in the gilded palace of Versailles. At the age of four, he became the dauphin, heir to the most powerful throne in Europe. Yet within five years he was to lose everything. Drawn into the horror of the French Revolution, his family was incarcerated and their fate thrust into the hands of the revolutionaries who wished to destroy the monarchy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Not For the Faint of Heart
- By Liane on 01-23-20
By: Deborah Cadbury
-
To the Scaffold
- The Life of Marie Antoinette
- By: Carolly Erickson
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 128
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 111
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 110
To this day Marie Antoinette remains one of history’s most misunderstood heroines. How she triumphed over the petty jealousies and backstairs rivalries of the court, how she sustained a good-hearted but malleable king, and how she was transformed from French queen to Austrian “whore,” is the story told with skill and fascinating detail.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Davina Porter is a treasure!
- By Missee on 04-08-19
By: Carolly Erickson
-
Marie Therese, Child of Terror
- The Fate of Marie Antoinette's Daughter
- By: Susan Nagel
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 18 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 221
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 182
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 181
Nagel tells a remarkable story of an astonishing woman, from her birth, to her upbringing by doting parents, through to Revolution, imprisonment, exile, Restoration, and, finally, her reincarnation as saint and matriarch.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Essential reading for students of Bourbon history
- By Adeliese Baumann on 03-07-13
By: Susan Nagel
-
Killers of the King
- The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I
- By: Charles Spencer
- Narrated by: Richard Trinder
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 27
January, 1649. After seven years of fighting in the bloodiest war in Britain’s history, Parliament faced a problem: what to do with a defeated king who refused to surrender? Parliamentarians resolved to do the unthinkable, to disregard the Divine Right of Kings and hold Charles I to account for the suffering and slaughter endured by his people. On a winter’s day outside Whitehall, the king of England was executed. When the king’s son, Charles II, was restored to the throne, he set about enacting a deadly wave of retribution against all those responsible for his father’s death.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Who Knew?
- By RJW on 08-26-23
By: Charles Spencer
-
The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara
- By: David I. Kertzer
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
Bologna, 1858: A police posse, acting on the orders of a Catholic inquisitor, invades the home of a Jewish merchant, Momolo Mortara, wrenches his crying six-year-old son from his arms, and rushes him off in a carriage bound for Rome. His mother is so distraught that she collapses and has to be taken to a neighbor's house, but her weeping can be heard across the city. With this terrifying scene - one that would haunt this family forever - David I. Kertzer begins his fascinating investigation of the dramatic kidnapping.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Too much detail
- By L. WILLIAM on 03-03-24
By: David I. Kertzer
-
Mary Queen of Scots
- The True Life of Mary Stuart
- By: John Guy
- Narrated by: Lucy Rayner
- Length: 25 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 324
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 292
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 290
In the first full-scale biography of Mary Stuart in more than 30 years, John Guy creates an intimate and absorbing portrait of one of history's most famous women, depicting her world and her place in the sweep of history with stunning immediacy. Bringing together all surviving documents and uncovering a trove of new sources for the first time, Guy dispels the popular image of Mary Queen of Scots as a romantic leading lady - achieving her ends through feminine wiles - and establishes her as the intellectual and political equal of Elizabeth I.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Horrible narration - don’t purchase
- By ballymerrigan on 12-27-18
By: John Guy
-
Marie Antoinette
- The Journey
- By: Antonia Fraser
- Narrated by: Donada Peters
- Length: 20 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 564
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 398
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 399
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.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Annoying Narration
- By LaFemmeRouge on 10-28-06
By: Antonia Fraser
-
The Last Manchu
- The Autobiography of Henry Pu Yi, Last Emperor of China
- By: Paul Kramer, Henry Pu Yi
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 108
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 92
In 1908, at the age of two, Henry Pu Yi ascended to become the last emperor of the centuries-old Manchu dynasty. After revolutionaries forced Pu Yi to abdicate in 1911, the young emperor lived for 13 years in Peking’s Forbidden City, but with none of the power his birth afforded him. The remainder of Pu Yi’s life was lived out in a topsy-turvy fashion: fleeing from a Chinese warlord, becoming head of a Japanese puppet state, being confined to a Russian prison in Siberia, and enduring taxing labor.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Marvelous and Ultimately Sad Memoir
- By Sparkly on 08-08-13
By: Paul Kramer, and others
-
The Dreyfus Affair
- The Scandal That Tore France in Two
- By: Piers Paul Read
- Narrated by: David Pevsner
- Length: 16 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 96
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 90
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 90
On October 13, 1894, Captain Dreyfus was summoned by the General de Boisdeffre to the Ministry of War. Despite minimal evidence against him he was placed under arrest for the crime of high treason. Not long afterward Dreyfus was incarcerated on Devil's Island. But how did an innocent man come to be convicted? And why was he kept locked up for so long? The Dreyfus Affair uniquely combines a fast-moving mystery story with a snapshot of France at a moment of great social flux and cultural richness.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Gripping look at an important moment in history
- By W. Brian Hall on 10-27-13
By: Piers Paul Read
-
The Iron King
- The Accursed Kings, Book 1
- By: Maurice Druon
- Narrated by: Peter Joyce
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 670
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 615
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 614
From the publishers that brought you A Game of Thrones comes the series that inspired George R.R. Martin’s epic work. France became a great nation under Philip the Fair - but it was a greatness achieved at the expense of her people, for his was a reign characterised by violence, the scandalous adulteries of his daughters-in-law, and the triumph of royal authority.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Historical Goodie
- By Syd Young on 08-03-13
By: Maurice Druon
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
City of Light, City of Poison
- Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris
- By: Holly Tucker
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 698
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 622
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 620
Appointed to conquer the "crime capital of the world", the first police chief of Paris faces an epidemic of murder in the late 1600s. Assigned by Louis XIV, Nicolas de La Reynie begins by clearing the streets of filth and installing lanterns throughout Paris, turning it into the City of Light. The fearless La Reynie pursues criminals through the labyrinthine neighborhoods of the city. He unearths a tightly knit cabal of poisoners, witches, and renegade priests.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great historic non-fiction
- By Josette Luvmour on 07-01-17
By: Holly Tucker
-
How to Ruin a Queen
- Marie Antoinette and the Diamond Necklace Affair
- By: Jonathan Beckman
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
In 1785, a sensational trial began in Paris that would divide the country and captivate Europe. A leading Catholic cardinal and scion of one of the most distinguished families in France stood accused of forging the queen's signature to obtain the most expensive piece of jewelry in Europe: a 2,800-carat diamond necklace. Where were the diamonds? Was the cardinal innocent? Was, for that matter, the queen?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A History Buff's Guilty Pleasure
- By Kathy on 12-31-14
By: Jonathan Beckman
-
To the Scaffold
- The Life of Marie Antoinette
- By: Carolly Erickson
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 128
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 111
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 110
To this day Marie Antoinette remains one of history’s most misunderstood heroines. How she triumphed over the petty jealousies and backstairs rivalries of the court, how she sustained a good-hearted but malleable king, and how she was transformed from French queen to Austrian “whore,” is the story told with skill and fascinating detail.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Davina Porter is a treasure!
- By Missee on 04-08-19
By: Carolly Erickson
-
Marie Therese, Child of Terror
- The Fate of Marie Antoinette's Daughter
- By: Susan Nagel
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 18 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 221
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 182
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 181
Nagel tells a remarkable story of an astonishing woman, from her birth, to her upbringing by doting parents, through to Revolution, imprisonment, exile, Restoration, and, finally, her reincarnation as saint and matriarch.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Essential reading for students of Bourbon history
- By Adeliese Baumann on 03-07-13
By: Susan Nagel
-
The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara
- By: David I. Kertzer
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
Bologna, 1858: A police posse, acting on the orders of a Catholic inquisitor, invades the home of a Jewish merchant, Momolo Mortara, wrenches his crying six-year-old son from his arms, and rushes him off in a carriage bound for Rome. His mother is so distraught that she collapses and has to be taken to a neighbor's house, but her weeping can be heard across the city. With this terrifying scene - one that would haunt this family forever - David I. Kertzer begins his fascinating investigation of the dramatic kidnapping.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Too much detail
- By L. WILLIAM on 03-03-24
By: David I. Kertzer
-
Mary Queen of Scots
- The True Life of Mary Stuart
- By: John Guy
- Narrated by: Lucy Rayner
- Length: 25 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 324
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 292
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 290
In the first full-scale biography of Mary Stuart in more than 30 years, John Guy creates an intimate and absorbing portrait of one of history's most famous women, depicting her world and her place in the sweep of history with stunning immediacy. Bringing together all surviving documents and uncovering a trove of new sources for the first time, Guy dispels the popular image of Mary Queen of Scots as a romantic leading lady - achieving her ends through feminine wiles - and establishes her as the intellectual and political equal of Elizabeth I.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Horrible narration - don’t purchase
- By ballymerrigan on 12-27-18
By: John Guy
-
City of Light, City of Poison
- Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris
- By: Holly Tucker
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 698
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 622
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 620
Appointed to conquer the "crime capital of the world", the first police chief of Paris faces an epidemic of murder in the late 1600s. Assigned by Louis XIV, Nicolas de La Reynie begins by clearing the streets of filth and installing lanterns throughout Paris, turning it into the City of Light. The fearless La Reynie pursues criminals through the labyrinthine neighborhoods of the city. He unearths a tightly knit cabal of poisoners, witches, and renegade priests.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great historic non-fiction
- By Josette Luvmour on 07-01-17
By: Holly Tucker
-
How to Ruin a Queen
- Marie Antoinette and the Diamond Necklace Affair
- By: Jonathan Beckman
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
In 1785, a sensational trial began in Paris that would divide the country and captivate Europe. A leading Catholic cardinal and scion of one of the most distinguished families in France stood accused of forging the queen's signature to obtain the most expensive piece of jewelry in Europe: a 2,800-carat diamond necklace. Where were the diamonds? Was the cardinal innocent? Was, for that matter, the queen?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A History Buff's Guilty Pleasure
- By Kathy on 12-31-14
By: Jonathan Beckman
-
To the Scaffold
- The Life of Marie Antoinette
- By: Carolly Erickson
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 128
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 111
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 110
To this day Marie Antoinette remains one of history’s most misunderstood heroines. How she triumphed over the petty jealousies and backstairs rivalries of the court, how she sustained a good-hearted but malleable king, and how she was transformed from French queen to Austrian “whore,” is the story told with skill and fascinating detail.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Davina Porter is a treasure!
- By Missee on 04-08-19
By: Carolly Erickson
-
Marie Therese, Child of Terror
- The Fate of Marie Antoinette's Daughter
- By: Susan Nagel
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 18 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 221
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 182
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 181
Nagel tells a remarkable story of an astonishing woman, from her birth, to her upbringing by doting parents, through to Revolution, imprisonment, exile, Restoration, and, finally, her reincarnation as saint and matriarch.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Essential reading for students of Bourbon history
- By Adeliese Baumann on 03-07-13
By: Susan Nagel
-
The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara
- By: David I. Kertzer
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
Bologna, 1858: A police posse, acting on the orders of a Catholic inquisitor, invades the home of a Jewish merchant, Momolo Mortara, wrenches his crying six-year-old son from his arms, and rushes him off in a carriage bound for Rome. His mother is so distraught that she collapses and has to be taken to a neighbor's house, but her weeping can be heard across the city. With this terrifying scene - one that would haunt this family forever - David I. Kertzer begins his fascinating investigation of the dramatic kidnapping.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Too much detail
- By L. WILLIAM on 03-03-24
By: David I. Kertzer
-
Mary Queen of Scots
- The True Life of Mary Stuart
- By: John Guy
- Narrated by: Lucy Rayner
- Length: 25 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 324
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 292
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 290
In the first full-scale biography of Mary Stuart in more than 30 years, John Guy creates an intimate and absorbing portrait of one of history's most famous women, depicting her world and her place in the sweep of history with stunning immediacy. Bringing together all surviving documents and uncovering a trove of new sources for the first time, Guy dispels the popular image of Mary Queen of Scots as a romantic leading lady - achieving her ends through feminine wiles - and establishes her as the intellectual and political equal of Elizabeth I.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Horrible narration - don’t purchase
- By ballymerrigan on 12-27-18
By: John Guy
-
Peter the Great
- His Life and World
- By: Robert K. Massie
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 43 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,205
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,020
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,009
This superbly told story brings to life one of the most remarkable rulers––and men––in all of history and conveys the drama of his life and world. The Russia of Peter's birth was very different from the Russia his energy, genius, and ruthlessness shaped. Crowned co-Tsar as a child of ten, after witnessing bloody uprisings in the streets of Moscow, he would grow up propelled by an unquenchable curiosity, everywhere looking, asking, tinkering, and learning, fired by Western ideas.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Narrater ruins everything
- By BrendaLouQuilts on 12-30-11
By: Robert K. Massie
-
Marie Antoinette
- The Journey
- By: Antonia Fraser
- Narrated by: Donada Peters
- Length: 20 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 564
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 398
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 399
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.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Annoying Narration
- By LaFemmeRouge on 10-28-06
By: Antonia Fraser
-
The Last Manchu
- The Autobiography of Henry Pu Yi, Last Emperor of China
- By: Paul Kramer, Henry Pu Yi
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 108
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 92
In 1908, at the age of two, Henry Pu Yi ascended to become the last emperor of the centuries-old Manchu dynasty. After revolutionaries forced Pu Yi to abdicate in 1911, the young emperor lived for 13 years in Peking’s Forbidden City, but with none of the power his birth afforded him. The remainder of Pu Yi’s life was lived out in a topsy-turvy fashion: fleeing from a Chinese warlord, becoming head of a Japanese puppet state, being confined to a Russian prison in Siberia, and enduring taxing labor.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Marvelous and Ultimately Sad Memoir
- By Sparkly on 08-08-13
By: Paul Kramer, and others
-
The Lost King of France
- How DNA Solved the Mystery of the Murdered Son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
- By: Deborah Cadbury
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 46
Louis-Charles, Duc de Normandie, enjoyed a charmed early childhood in the gilded palace of Versailles. At the age of four, he became the dauphin, heir to the most powerful throne in Europe. Yet within five years he was to lose everything. Drawn into the horror of the French Revolution, his family was incarcerated and their fate thrust into the hands of the revolutionaries who wished to destroy the monarchy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Not For the Faint of Heart
- By Liane on 01-23-20
By: Deborah Cadbury
-
The Dreyfus Affair
- The Scandal That Tore France in Two
- By: Piers Paul Read
- Narrated by: David Pevsner
- Length: 16 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 96
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 90
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 90
On October 13, 1894, Captain Dreyfus was summoned by the General de Boisdeffre to the Ministry of War. Despite minimal evidence against him he was placed under arrest for the crime of high treason. Not long afterward Dreyfus was incarcerated on Devil's Island. But how did an innocent man come to be convicted? And why was he kept locked up for so long? The Dreyfus Affair uniquely combines a fast-moving mystery story with a snapshot of France at a moment of great social flux and cultural richness.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Gripping look at an important moment in history
- By W. Brian Hall on 10-27-13
By: Piers Paul Read
-
Jane Boleyn
- The True Story of the Infamous Lady Rochford
- By: Julia Fox
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 132
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 79
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 80
In a life of extraordinary drama, Jane Boleyn was catapulted from relative obscurity to the inner circle of King Henry VIII. As powerful men and women around her became victims of Henry's ruthless and absolute power - including her own husband and sister-in-law Queen Anne Boleyn - Jane's allegiance to the volatile monarchy was sustained and rewarded. But the price for her loyalty would eventually be her undoing and the ruination of her name
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Nothing new here
- By Caroline on 02-22-08
By: Julia Fox
-
The Iron King
- The Accursed Kings, Book 1
- By: Maurice Druon
- Narrated by: Peter Joyce
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 670
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 615
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 614
From the publishers that brought you A Game of Thrones comes the series that inspired George R.R. Martin’s epic work. France became a great nation under Philip the Fair - but it was a greatness achieved at the expense of her people, for his was a reign characterised by violence, the scandalous adulteries of his daughters-in-law, and the triumph of royal authority.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Historical Goodie
- By Syd Young on 08-03-13
By: Maurice Druon
-
The Rasputin File
- By: Edvard Radzinsky, Judson Rosengrant - translator
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 22 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 103
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 97
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 97
For almost a century, historians could only speculate about the role Grigory Rasputin played in the downfall of tsarist Russia. But in 1995 a lost file from the state archives turned up, a file that contained the complete interrogations of Rasputin's inner circle. With this extensive and explicit amplification of the historical record, Edvard Radzinsky has written a definitive biography, reconstructing in full the fascinating life of an improbable holy man who changed the course of Russian history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Good old Radzinsky
- By Babs on 03-13-18
By: Edvard Radzinsky, and others
-
God's Traitors
- Terror & Faith in Elizabethan England
- By: Jessie Childs
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 36
For many Catholics, the Elizabethan "Golden Age" was an alien concept. Following the criminalization of their religion by Elizabeth I, nearly 200 Catholics were executed, and many more wasted away in prison during her reign. Torture was used more than at any other time in England's history. While some bowed to the pressure of the government and new church, publicly conforming to acts of Protestant worship, others did not - and quickly found themselves living in a state of siege.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Well-researched, well-written
- By Charles on 03-23-15
By: Jessie Childs
-
The White King
- Charles I, Traitor, Murderer, Martyr
- By: Leanda de Lisle
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 122
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 111
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 112
Less than 40 years after England's golden age under Elizabeth I, the country was at war with itself. Split between loyalty to the Crown or to Parliament, war raged on English soil. Its casualties were immense. At the head of the disintegrating kingdom was King Charles I. In this vivid portrait - informed by previously unseen manuscripts, including royal correspondence between the king and his queen - Leanda de Lisle depicts a man who was principled and brave but fatally blinkered.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Enlightening Stuart history
- By Adeliese Baumann on 01-25-18
By: Leanda de Lisle
-
The Charterhouse of Parma
- By: Henri Beyle Stendhal
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 190
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 172
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 168
In the coming-of-age story, we follow a young Italian nobleman, Fabrizio Valserra, Marchesino del Dongo, on many adventures, including his experiences at the Battle of Waterloo, and romantic intrigues.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing novel finally available on audio!
- By Grant on 03-23-14
-
The Assassin's Accomplice
- Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln
- By: Kate Clifford Larson
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
In The Assassin’s Accomplice, historian Kate Clifford Larson tells the gripping story of Mary Surratt, a little-known conspirator in the plot to kill Abraham Lincoln, and the first woman ever to be executed by the federal government. A Confederate sympathizer, Surratt ran the boarding house where the conspirators met to plan Lincoln’s assassination. Set against the backdrop of the Civil War, The Assassin’s Accomplice tells the intricate story of the Lincoln conspiracy through the eyes of its only female participant, offering a fresh perspective on America’s most famous murder.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Did She or Didn't She
- By c a cornelius on 06-04-21
What listeners say about Marie Antoinette's Darkest Days
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Nancy Ann
- 10-06-17
Marie Antoinette's Darkest Days
I think it is aGood Read ( listen) enjoyed and it would recommend to history buff.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Marissa K
- 10-21-20
Great for historians
I liked details of the book. I bought the kindle edition a few years ago to support my case on a finale paper for a class I was in. I liked the book so much I decided to listen to it this time around.
I feel like it reads like a novel, but that may be subjective. There are a lot of names the thrown around in the book, so beware if you aren’t quite paying full attention at times.
I’ve listened to a few other books pertaining to this section of the 1789 Revolution and this one gave me some new insights that I hadn’t heard before— mostly about the material effects of Marie Antoinette.
This is great for historians and history students— and also for the people who actually want to learn more than: she did not say “let them eat cake”.
The narrator tries his best to give voices to the different people speaking but sometimes his tone is a little dull, but if you can get past that and into the sheer dramatics of this time in the Revolution then go for it!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!