I thought this was very well done. It provides first hand accounts of her final days. The research is meticulously done and well presented. I look forward to seeing more from this author. ( )

This is one of those books that I would have preferred to have read as an actual book because of the numerous footnotes, diagrams,and acknowledgements which are so much easier to read. together with the text, in a book rather than an ebook. (Well on my tablet anyway).
This is the story of the seventy-six days imprisonment of Marie Antoinette, her last 76 days. It looks well researched, and an interesting and easy read.
A NetGalley Book ( )

For a long while I simply didn't understand why French Revolution was so popular and why the monarchs, Marie Antoinette in particular, inspired novels and stories in historical fiction (similar to how Tudors and Regency stories dominate historical fiction as well as romance) but after reading this book, I finally understand why the story is so popular, and why even today we see Marie Antoinette more as a victim rather than a perpetrator, and why so many people were inspired to help her and her family during the darkest days. Granted the glitter and glamour are far more attractive to readers, but the real self, I believe, emerges in the darkest of times, which is what the author has shown in the book through research and storytelling. I know the result, what happened to Marie Antoinette, but despite that, I hoped for the best for her and her family, and perhaps its through these dark times that Marie Antoinette became a tragic heroine. ( )

In a follow-up to his award winning "Marie Antoinette's Head: The Royal Hairdresser, The Queen, and the Revolution" Will Bashor continues Marie Antoinette's story with an equally well researched "Marie Antoinette's Darkest Days: Prisoner No. 280 in the Conciergerie". I did know about the unsuccessful attempt to save the French Royal family by Swedish Count Hans Axel von Fersen. But Will Bashor tells about various other attempts to free Marie Antoinette, all equally unsuccessful. We learn of the terrible conditions in the cell, where she was kept, the cold, the damp and the vermin, how her health was deteriorating from quite probably cancer of the uterus, how the jailer and his wife took pity on her and tried to improve her health with special food, even fruits and vegetables donated by market vendors, who were sympathetic to the Royal family.
What I found especially interesting was his research into the backgrounds of all members of the jury, who convicted her and the trial transcripts themselves. Since we often see portraits of this doomed queen, when she was dressed in white wigs, we tend to forget, that she was only 37, when her life was ended by the guillotine. Even Napoleon considered her death to be more terrible than regicide. ( )

Book received from NetGalley

Oh my, poor Marie Antoinette. I have read a few books on this French Queen, but they mostly focus on her childhood and time as co-ruler of France. I had some idea that her captivity leading up to her execution was horrifying, but I never knew exactly how bad. This book's research was phenomenal, looking into a part of French history most know of but know little about. I recommend this for anyone who enjoys the history of that era or area.