Marie Antoinette's Head Banner

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Marie Antoinette's Head

Author Will BASHOR

on Tour

February 3-12, 2014

with his

Marie Antoinette’s Head:
The Royal Hairdresser, The Queen,
And The Revolution

[history/nonfiction]

 Release date: October 16, 2013
(anniversary of Marie Antoinette’s execution)
at Lyons Press

Hardcover, 320 pages
Color Insert: 16 pages

ISBN-10: 0762791535
ISBN-13: 978-0762791538

Award:

2013 Adele Mellen Prize for Distinguished Scholarship

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SYNOPSIS

Marie Antoinette has remained atop the popular cultural landscape for centuries for the daring in style and fashion that she brought to 18th century France. For the better part of the queen’s reign, one man was entrusted with the sole responsibility of ensuring that her coiffure was at its most ostentatious best. Who was this minister of fashion who wielded such tremendous influence over the queen’s affairs? Marie Antoinette’s Head: The Royal Hairdresser, The Queen, and the Revolution charts the rise of Leonard Autié from humble origins as a country barber in the south of France to the inventor of the Pouf and premier hairdresser to Queen Marie-Antoinette.

By unearthing a variety of sources from the 18th and 19th centuries, including memoirs (including Léonard’s own), court documents, and archived periodicals the author, Professor Will Bashor, tells Autié’s mostly unknown story. He chronicles Leonard’s story, the role he played in the life of his most famous client, and the chaotic and history-making world in which he rose to prominence. Besides his proximity to the queen, Leonard also had a most fascinating life filled with sex (he was the only man in a female dominated court), seduction, intrigue, espionage, theft, exile, treason, and possibly, execution. The French press reported that Léonard was convicted of treason and executed in Paris in 1793. However, it was also recorded that Léonard, after receiving a pension from the new King Louis XVIII, died in Paris in March 1820. Granted, Leonard was known as the magician of Marie-Antoinette’s court, but how was it possible that he managed to die twice? [provided by the author]

WATCH THE TRAILER

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PRAISE FOR
Marie Antoinette’s Head:
The Royal Hairdresser, The Queen, and the Revolution

“Bashor continues to offer original perspectives on the last Bourbons and those who served them. In this dual biography, Marie Antoinette emerges through the eyes and “magic comb” of Léonard Autié, her gifted hairdresser …Marie Antoinette’s Head not only entertains, it conveys both the events and the character of the age.”
– Reed Benhamou, PhD, Professor Emerita, Indiana University

“This is a new and riveting account, in a clear and attractive style, of significant historical events that lead to the French Revolution of 1789, as seen through the eyes of Marie Antoinette’s ambitious hairdresser…”
– Aleksandra Gruzinska, School of International Letters and Cultures, Arizona State University

“I have nothing but praise. The book is so well researched, so well written, so totally readable that it will appeal to a very wide public….”
– David Wingeate Pike, American Graduate School of International Relations and Diplomacy, Paris [on the author’s webpage]

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Will Bashor pictureWill Bashor has a doctorate in International Relations from the American Graduate School in Paris,
and he teaches at Franklin University, Columbus, Ohio.
His interests have ranged over many fields,
among them the study of international law and business, linguistics,
cultural anthropology, and European history.

As a member of the Society for French Historical Studies,
he attended its annual meeting sponsored by Harvard University in Cambridge in 2013.
[Provided by the author.]
Visit his website, and connect with him:

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VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE

Monday, February 3
Review + Excerpt + Giveaway
at I Am, Indeed

Tuesday, February 4
Review + Interview + Giveaway
at Words And Peace

Wednesday, February 5
Review at An Accidental Blog

Thursday, February 6
Review + Giveaway at Caffeinatedlife.net

Friday, February 7
Review + Giveaway at The Avid Reader

Friday, February 7
Guest-post at Caffeinatedlife.net

Saturday, February 8
Review + Giveaway at The Victorian Librarian

Monday, February 10
Review + Giveaway at Just One More Chapter

Monday, February 10
Review + Giveaway at From L.A. to LA

Tuesday, February 11
Review at Impressions in Ink

Wednesday, February 12
Review + Giveaway at Making My Mark

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