This was actually a pretty interesting book, part biography of Louis XVII, part historical mystery. The first half outlines the history of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and their experiences with the Revolution. It then goes on to the family's history during imprisonment, and the executions of both regents. there is a great deal of detail regarding the timeline of the imprisonment of Louis XVII, and it is both terrifying and sad. The theory is that he was replaced at some point during his years of solitary confinement and a second, unknown boy died in his place. The second half of the book discusses the lives of the people who came out of the woodwork after the revolution claiming to be the lost prince. Supposedly several dozen people from around the world made the claim, however a couple of them were fairly believable. It talks about their lives and the lives of their decedents, many of whom still believe that they are direct descendants of the French Royal Family.
Finally the book goes into the scientific, and outlines the process that was undertaken to determine if a dried up heart belonged to a relative of the Austrian royal family, and could indeed by that of Marie Antoinette's son. Overall, this book was pretty interesting, although perhaps a bit too detailed in it's earlier history of the family. I give it 3 beheaded aristocrats out of 5. Vive le France!
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