Author: Jonathan Beckman
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1848549997
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 426
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Book Description
'A hell of a tale and Jonathan Beckman gives it all the verve and swagger it deserves . . . I read it with fascination, delight and frequent snorts of incredulity' The Spectator On 5 September 1785, a trial began in Paris that would divide the country, captivate Europe and send the French monarchy tumbling down the slope towards the Revolution. Cardinal Louis de Rohan, scion of one of the most ancient and distinguished families in France, stood accused of forging Marie Antoinette's signature to fraudulently obtain the most expensive piece of jewellery in Europe - a 2,400-carat necklace worth 1.6 million francs. Where were the diamonds now? Was Rohan entirely innocent? Was, for that matter, the queen? What was the role of the charismatic magus, the comte de Cagliostro, who was rumoured to be two-thousand-years old and capable of transforming metal into gold? This is a tale of political machinations and extravagance on an enormous scale; of kidnappings, prison breaks and assassination attempts; of hapless French police disguised as colliers, reams of lesbian pornography and a duel fought with poisoned pigs. It is a detective story, a courtroom drama, a tragicomic farce, and a study of credulity and self-deception in the Age of Enlightenment.
Author: Countess De La Motte
Publisher: Legare Street Press
ISBN: 9781019591284
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
This gripping memoir tells the true story of a scandal that rocked the French court in the 18th century. It is a must-read for fans of historical true crime. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Author: John Hardman
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300249039
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 517
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Book Description
This “wonderfully gripping biography” digs beneath the famous legend to present a nuanced and revealing portrait of a serious-mined monarch (Allan Massie, Wall Street Journal). As the last Queen of France before the French Revolution, Marie-Antoinette was mistrusted and reviled in her own time, while today she is portrayed as a lightweight incapable of understanding the events that engulfed her. But who was she really? In this new account, John Hardman redresses the balance and sheds fresh light on her story. Hardman shows how Marie-Antoinette played a significant but misunderstood role in the crisis of the monarchy. Drawing on new sources, he describes how she refused to prioritize the aggressive foreign policy of her mother, bravely took over the helm from her faltering husband, and, when revolution broke out, worked closely with repentant radicals to give the constitutional monarchy a fighting chance. For the first time, Hardman demonstrates exactly what influence Marie-Antoinette had and when and how she exerted it. Named a 2020 Book of the Year by The Spectator
Author: Jonathan Beckman
Publisher: John Murray
ISBN: 9781848549975
Category : Diamond Necklace Affair, France, 1785
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
'A hell of a tale and Jonathan Beckman gives it all the verve and swagger it deserves . . . I read it with fascination, delight and frequent snorts of incredulity' The Spectator On 5 September 1785, a trial began in Paris that would divide the country, captivate Europe and send the French monarchy tumbling down the slope towards the Revolution. Cardinal Louis de Rohan, scion of one of the most ancient and distinguished families in France, stood accused of forging Marie Antoinette's signature to fraudulently obtain the most expensive piece of jewellery in Europe - a 2,400-carat necklace worth 1.6 million francs. Where were the diamonds now? Was Rohan entirely innocent? Was, for that matter, the queen? What was the role of the charismatic magus, the comte de Cagliostro, who was rumoured to be two-thousand-years old and capable of transforming metal into gold? This is a tale of political machinations and extravagance on an enormous scale; of kidnappings, prison breaks and assassination attempts; of hapless French police disguised as colliers, reams of lesbian pornography and a duel fought with poisoned pigs. It is a detective story, a courtroom drama, a tragicomic farce, and a study of credulity and self-deception in the Age of Enlightenment.
Author: Kendra Little
Publisher: Kendra Little
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 196
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Book Description
Ruby Jones is the luckiest gemologist in the world. After all, how many can claim to have handled the famous "lost" Florentine Diamond, once worn by empresses? But her luck runs out when the diamond is stolen from ruthless businessman Guy Beauvoir. As the one commissioned to verify it, she's his prime suspect. With Beauvoir's goon chasing her all over the city, there's only person Ruby can turn to. Jake Forrester doesn't want anything to do with Ruby, but he owes her brother big. The ex-special ops soldier turned private security agent is moving interstate, and the last thing he wants is a complication in the form of his mate's sexy little sister. The sooner he can find the Florentine and return it to Beauvoir, the sooner he can walk away. If only it were that simple. Keeping Ruby safe is turning into a full-time job, and having her close is playing havoc with his determination to forget the secrets he's tried so hard to bury.
Author: Roger MacDonald
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781903499528
Category : Adultery
Languages : en
Pages : 298
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Book Description
The French Queen, Anne of Austria, gives her lover, the irresistible duke of Buckingham, a fabulous diamond necklace. Louis XII commands his Queen to wear the necklace at the royal ball. Three musketeers begin desperate race to England and back to retrieve the necklace from Buckingham and save the Queen's honour. But the Duke's jealous mistress, Lucy Percy, steals two of the diamonds and takes them to the Queen's enemy, Cardinal Richelieu. Oxford historian Roger Macdonald uncovers the true, extraordinary tale of intrigue, sex and revenge that inspired Alexandre Duma’s immortal novel.
Author: Marcel Proust
Publisher: Melville House
ISBN: 1612192335
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 114
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Book Description
Their friend Marcel Proust had killed himself after the fall in diamond shares, a collapse that annihilated a part of his fortune. This is the first-ever translation into English of this startling tour-de-force by one of the twentieth century’s greatest writers. The Lemoine Affair was inspired by the real-life French scandal involving Henri Lemoine, who claimed he could manufacture diamonds from coal and convinced numerous people—including officers of the De Beers diamond mine company and Proust himself—to invest in the scheme. In a series of pastiches—imitations written in the style of other writers—Proust tells the story of the embarrassment rippling across high society Paris in the wake of the scandal, poking fun at himself (in one story, a character declares that Marcel Proust is so embarrassed he’s suicidal) while lampooning some of France’s greatest writers, including Flaubert, Balzac, and Saint-Simon. Full of sophisticated wit and dazzling wordplay, and rife with allusions to his friend and fictional characters, many Proust scholars see the dead-on mimicry of The Lemoine Affair—written soon after Proust’s rejection of society life—as the work by which he honed his own unique, masterly voice. The Art of The Novella Series Too short to be a novel, too long to be a short story, the novella is generally unrecognized by academics and publishers. Nonetheless, it is a form beloved and practiced by literature's greatest writers. In the Art Of The Novella series, Melville House celebrates this renegade art form and its practitioners with titles that are, in many instances, presented in book form for the first time.
Author: Alexandre Dumas
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : France
Languages : en
Pages : 460
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Book Description
Author: Jan Colley
Publisher: Harlequin / SB Creative
ISBN: 4596281947
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
Languages : en
Pages : 128
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Book Description
Danielle “Dani” Hammond is a world-renowned jewelry designer, respected and awarded for her considerable skill by her peers…except for the ever-critical Quinn Everard. He’s one of Australia’s biggest gem brokers and never lets up on her work. Why, then, has Quinn come to her to create a piece using the Distinction Diamond, a legendary gem? Dani gets down to work without knowing that the recipient of her hard work will be herself! Still unsure why he would commit such a rare and elegant piece of jewelry to the hands of someone whose work he finds subpar, Dani can’t know the regret that lies in Quinn’s heart.
Author: Elizabeth Taylor
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 9780743236645
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 240
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Book Description
Profiles the film star's collection of jewelry, providing descriptions of her most noteworthy pieces and describing their representation of particular relationships and events in her life.
