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Dancing to the Precipice

Lucie de la Tour du Pin and the French Revolution

Caroline Moorehead

$45

Paperback

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English
Vintage
03 May 2010
Lucie de la Tour du Pin was the Pepys of her generation- her diaries provide a vivid picture of Versailles, the French Revolution and Napoleon. This richly textured, highly enjoyable and evocative biography shows us an extraordinary woman in the midst of her extraordinary times.

Lucie de la Tour du Pin was the Pepys of her generation. She witnessed, participated in, and wrote diaries detailing one of the most tumultuous periods of history. From life in the Court of Versailles, through the French Revolution to Napoleon's rule, Lucie survived extraordinary times with great spirit. She recorded people, politics and intrigue, alongside the intriguing minutia of everyday life- food, work, illness, children, manners and clothes.

Caroline Moorehead's richly novelistic biography sets Lucy and her dairies in their wider context, illuminating a remarkable period of history.

Dancing to the Precipice was shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award 2009.
By:  
Imprint:   Vintage
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 216mm,  Width: 135mm,  Spine: 38mm
Weight:   541g
ISBN:   9780099490524
ISBN 10:   0099490528
Pages:   512
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Caroline Moorehead is the biographer of Bertrand Russell, Freya Stark, Iris Origo and Martha Gellhorn. Well known for her work in human rights, she has published a history of the Red Cross and a book about refugees, Human Cargo. She lives in London and Italy. Fluent in French and Italian, her researches for this book have uncovered letters, documents and portraits, many never previously examined.

Reviews for Dancing to the Precipice: Lucie de la Tour du Pin and the French Revolution

Utterly captivating... brings to life both Lucie and the glorious and terrible years through which she lived with a novelistic vividness, full of sights and sounds and flavours * Sunday Times * A scintillating biography...Moorehead succeeds triumphantly [and] brings an assured grip on contemporary politics and a colourful sense of place * Daily Telegraph * A rich and satisfying book which not only adds to our appreciation of Madame de la Tour du Pin's story but brings the whole tumultuous period and its characters to life * Spectator * Lucie de la Tour de Pin has found a biographer worthy of her own storytelling skills. With a light-handed touch, Moorehead sets Lucie's story in its wider social and historical context, sketching the complicated political twists and turns in a way that makes them memorable without ever dumbing down -- Kathryn Hughes * Mail on Sunday * Never less than a gripping story of an extraordinary life * Literary Review * Here is the latest from Caroline Moorhead whose work is never less than rigorously and beautifully composed * Daily Express * Moorehead has an eye for the detail... The book sparkles with gems about life at the court of Marie-Antoinette -- Hugh MacDonald * The Herald * romantic adventure, staged in colourful historical settings...moral tale -- Biancamaria Fontana * Times Literary Supplement * The attraction of Moorehead's biography lies in her seamless fusion of Lucie's warm subjectivity with a broad historical canvas of bitter turmoil. -- Siofra Pierse * Irish Times * comprehensive and absorbing biography -- Clare Colvin * Independent *


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