FATE AND FOLLY

Jacques Necker was born in Geneva, Switzerland, a commoner and a Protestant who at age 16 had been sent to work in a bank in Paris. In Paris "illumined" thinking floated in the air of elegant salons, premier artists produced masterpieces in every genre, and a royal Court astonished with its splendor and its decadence. Necker soon owned his own bank and married the orphaned daughter of a Protestant preacher from a Swiss village. Louis Auguste Capet was a Prince of the Royal Blood, born and raised in Versailles, who married an Austrian Archduchess, Marie Antoinette. However, no one in Versailles, including the royal family, expected or wanted Louis Auguste to become King. Yet he did, inheriting a kingdom rife in corruption, decadence, and enormous national debt. A chain of circumstances brought these two men of completely opposite backgrounds together. King Louis XVI wanted to restore France, Jacques Necker was willing to help. There are those who believe that between them, they might have prevented the French Revolution from ever happening. Volume 1 (1764-1779) tells the story of Necker's amazing ascent to the halls of power. Volume 2 (1779-1794) tells the story of why they failed and instead of a creating a better France, what erupted was the infamously bloody, brutal French Revolution.