How to Ruin a Queen

A work of scholarship and imagination, that focusses new light on the famous and extraordinary affair of Marie Antoinette and the stolen diamonds. The narrative is like an ingenious chess game showing us the complex moves of bishops, knights and pawns round the king and queen. Jonathan Beckman is the new Wilkie Collins of biographical history - Michael Holroyd

A fascinating and impeccably researched account of one of the great scandals of the eighteenth century. Beckman is a master-storyteller whose consummate skills are evident on every page - Amanda Foreman

A murky story of the Ancien Regime including diamonds and sex, brilliantly told - Lady Antonia Fraser

Necklace to neckless! This is the murky tale of the diamond heist that lead to Marie Antoinette’s demise - Tatler

A rollicking whodunit - Independent

Fascinating … a gripping detective story and a witty revelation of a scandal that shocked Paris - BBC History Magazine

In his intriguing history, Jonathan Beckman has spun out of this dirty tangle of source material a clear and compelling narrative line … with its exuberant use of language and subtly ironic storytelling, it is almost as colourful as the scandal it explores - Sunday Times

Gripped me like a whodunit … Beckman tells this scarcely believable story with flair - The Times