Godfather of the Revolution: The Life of Philippe Égalité, Duc d’Orléans

While there are a great many books on Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and the rest of the French Royal Family, the crucial role of the Duc d’Orleans—the man who bankrolled the French Revolution—has been inexplicably overlooked, and this is the first biography to appear in English for many years. This is despite the fact that he was the only member of a royal house ever to join a revolution against its monarchy and to vote for the judicial murder of the king. As well as bringing vividly to life the famous heroes and villains of the French Revolution, Tom Ambrose introduces the reader to a host of colorful and truly unforgettable characters, including Philippe’s friend the Chevalier de Saint-George (“the Black Mozart”) with whom he cofounded the first French anti-slavery society, the Duc’s mistress Madame de Genlis, femme fatale and leading intellectual of the age, and—most significantly—Philippe himself, a towering figure in one of the most significant periods of European history.