num_pages: 408
description: 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 a 2800-carat diamond necklace. Where were the diamonds? Was the cardinal innocent? Was for that matter the queen? The revelations from the trial would bedevil the French monarchy as the country descended into a bloody revolution.In How to Ruin a Queen  award-winning author Jonathan Beckman tells of political machinations and enormous extravagance; of kidnappings prison breaks and assassination attempts; of hapless French police in disguise 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.
language: English
title: How to Ruin a Queen: Marie Antoinette and the Diamond Necklace Affair
publisher: Da Capo Press