The Wicked Queen: The Origins of the Myth of Marie-Antoinette Hardcover – Bargain Price, May 14, 1999

I have long been obsessed with Marie Antoinette. I am, in fact, writing a book set in the court of Louis XVI. You can imagine my delight when I was informed about the pending release of Ms. Thomas's book. I had hoped her book would provide many examples of libel against the queen. I was hoping this book would detail who wrote what and when. I found this book to be an excuse to print a lot of nasty words. Ms. Thomas's views, while educated, were tired and repeated over and over again. Nothing in this book was thought-provoking or fresh. It did not illuminate or entertain. Very little was devoted to the effects of the words against the queen. How did this effect MA emotionally, physically? What did it do to the marriage of the King and Queen? What were the long-term impacts of these libelous ditty's? How did they effect journalism as we know it today? How did they contribute to the Revolution? All in all, a disappointment.

Thanks!

"The Wicked Queen" by Chantal Thomas is a thoughtful, well-researched book that explores the role of the queen in France, as well as how -- through the power of the propaganda hate machine -- the public image of Marie Antoinette was morphed from the sweet, fresh-faced Dauphine that the people adored upon her arrival in France; to the sexually deviant, murderous queen they accused her of being as the revolution took hold.As a bonus, in the back of the book are a handful of the original pamphlets of the day, fully translated into English. These are quite interesting, as I've always wanted to read some of the unedited, infamous pieces of propaganda (some of which are often referenced in various biographies of Marie Antoinette). One can almost feel the sadistic glee infused into the writing, which was specifically crafted to tap into the public's rage and despair over the prevailing social order, using one woman as a scape-goat for all evils. As such, the pamphlets' content is quite crude and blunt . . . so if you're not keen on reading the disgusting specifics of the accusations hurled at the queen, you may easily skip that section of the book. (It's pretty much a separate entity, buried behind Author's Notes, etc.)All in all, if you're interested in the origins of the generally accepted -- and mostly false -- pop-culture image of Marie Antoinette (as the unsympathetic tart who flippantly proclaims "Let them eat cake!") . . . I definitely recommend this book for an informative read.

I read and reread this and I never could make myself like it. It's pretty bad. But for those not wanting to know that much about the human Antoinette and more interested in her in the metaphysical sense, this is the book for you. It's crap to me right now. But who knows....I might find gold in it a decade down the road. Maybe there's insight I've yet to understand. Hence, I'm not placing it in a garage sale...for now.

Unfortunately publishers feel that a book on Marie Antoinette will sell every couple years, so like clockwork we see an avalanche of pro royalist, sympathetic, out of context garbage. Most of them repeat the same legends...They base their accounts of the flight to Varennes on Carlyle and talk about her martydom...With the exception of Le Notre not one of her biographers has also done a biography of one of the leaders of the Revolution. Most demonstrate an alarming lack of understanding of basic events such as the the Bread March on Verseilles, September Massacres, the Necklace Affair or even how official Court appointment were made.This is the first book in sometime that has put Marie Antoinette back into the context of her time...unfortunately for Royalist Mythology she was commonly referred to as the Austrian .... By her actions she precipitated the Revolution...she was provocative and weak...a flammable combination.As for the reader who's sensibilities are offended by the "riding the penis" cartoon...you obviously haven't seen the several thousand cartoons of time that are available...the one you refer to IS tame...you should see the ones where she is dressed like a nun....You should also read the pamphlets sold at the Palais Royale...While Hebert did indeed make things up in her indictment, it is hard to get around the fact that she has to shoulder a lot of responsibility for the revolution...I recommend this book as one of the best books on Marie Antoinette in last 20 years...it has also prompted me to seek out the author.I think the book is well researched, devoid of sentimentality and attempts to place Marie Antoinette back into the context of the tapestry of her times.Michael La VeanFellow, International Napoleonic Society

I regret I did not read these reviews before I bought this book.The digressions were very distracting. I was greatly offended by thevulgar language of the phamplets. I had to throw the book out to prevent any one else being offended. At the time I bought this book I bought another that was more informative.

I am a college student majoring in History and I thank Chantal Thomas for writing this excellent work. I first ran across her name when researching the propaganda against Marie Antoinette (I wrote my thesis on this during the semester). I have found her to be the authority, at the present time, on the pamphlets, propaganda, etc. written against MA. If you are interested in reading about this, I strongly recommend this book. She includes copies of the actual phamplets written and they are truely fascinating. One can see the fervor of the Paris mob on the pages of these vile, xrated pieces. If you love French history or women's history, buy this book today!