1. Martyrdom. 2. The Great Red Island.
3. Polynesians and Pirates.
4. Beneath the Heavens.
5. The Malagasy Napoleon.
6. Priestess of the Ancestors.
7. La Visite Amicable.
8. The White Slave.
9. The Queen's Bath.
10. The Coming Storm.
11. Black Versailles.
12. An Embassy to Europe.
13. The Persecutions Begin.
14. The Buffalo Hunt.
15. The Great Conspiracy.
16. Lambert and Laborde.
17. 'A Strong Desire to See the World'.
18. Journey to the Queen.
19. Plots and Pianos.
20. The Coup.
21. The Final Years.
Epilogue.
Selected Bibliography.
Index.
Dr. Kith Laidler is an anthropologist, writer and film-maker. He is the author of seven books, including the best selling The Last Empress (John Wiley). He is also producer of a large number of films, for which he did his own camera work. Originally concentrating on nature films, Dr. Laidler worked with Sir David Attenborough on The Living Planet. His production company, Wolfshead Productions, ahs made a number of highly acclaimed documentaries for a variety of broadcasters, such as Pandas Aren?t Always Cuddly for BBC?s Wildlife On One and Pandas of the Sleeping Dragon. He holds a PhD in anthropology from Durham University. He has, over recent years, turned his investigative techniques towards history and religion.
"...jaw-dropping..." (Conde Nast Traveller, November 2005) "...a
new book reveals the extraordinary excesses of the woman whose
enemies met the most unspeakable fates..." (Daily Express, 7th
November 2005)
Laidler, an anthropologist, filmmaker and author (The Last
Empress), uncovers the fascinating story of the early 19th-century
queen of Madagascar, Ranavalona, who seized power after her
husband's death and ruled ruthlessly but effectively for 33 years.
Unfortunately, much of it reads like a European's shocked appraisal
of native culture rather than the analysis of an anthropologist.
The author seems trapped by his title?derived from a European
commentator?and, obliged to prove his subject unusually
bloodthirsty, he emphasizes the queen's oppression of Christians
and trials by ordeal rather than fleshing out the tantalizing
glimpses of native religions, social structures and matrilineal
royal descent that kept her in power. His most sympathetic
characters are a few extraordinary Europeans who lived in or
visited Madagascar during her reign. Laidler briefly asserts that
Ranavalona actually descended into insanity, but nowhere does he
seriously address the issue or give evidence beyond the violence of
her tenure. In fact, the narrative suggests that her plans were
effective rather than mad: after her death, a series of somewhat
less violent and more open-minded rulers gave way under foreign
imperial pressures and Madagascar became a French colony. B&w
illus., map. (Dec.) (Publishers Weekly, October 24, 2005)
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