BY THE SWORD OR BY POISON

Portraits of 16 female killers who had an impact on their era and on history.

Agrippina, Isabella of Angoulême, Marguerite of Anjou, Mary I of England, the Duchess of Longueville, Madame de Montespan For love, ambition and revenge, out of fear or cruelty, or because of politics, selfishness and vanity, women have killed men, women and even children, or had them killed. A book that was out of print for 40 years.

Bloodshed is the sinister link that unites such dissimilar creatures as Agrippina and Theophano, the cabaret performer from the suburbs of Byzantium who became empress; or Isabella d' Angoulême and Marguerite d'Anjou, both Queens of England, and greedy Henriette d'Entragues who could not be queen of France and took a terrible revenge; or Ana de Mendoza, princess of Eboli, who killed to protect her love, and the terrifying Erzsebeth Bathory, a feminine version of Gilles de Rais.

In each of these stories, the sword flashes, the ax falls or the poison seeps in, and the elaborate and tragic saga unfolds, from one Chinese empress to another, from the first to the last of these women, across the centuries and around the world. And it's impossible to say which was worse, Locuste's poison or La Voisin's, Mary Tudor's massacres or the gruesome betrayal of the woman with the red shawl.

Table of contents: Lu, the Chinese Agrippina; Agrippina; Theophano; Isabella of Angoulême; Marguerite of Anjou; Mary I of England; Béatrice Centi: Bianca Capello; Henriette d'Entragues; Ana de Mendoza; Erzsebeth Bathory; Frances Howard; the Duchess de Longueville; Madame de Montespan; Charlotte de Vaubadon; Tzu-Hi.

In the foreword by Alain Decaux: “Dear Juliette Benzoni, you follow the same path as Alexandre Dumas: you help to make the French love history.”

A prolific and popular author, Juliette Benzoni has published numerous successful books at Perrin, including Dans le lit des rois (In Bed with Kings, 2010), Dans le lit des reines (In Bed with Queens, 1984), Le roman des châteaux de France (The Story of French Castles, 1986), Ces belles inconnues de la Révolution (Unknown Beauties of the Revolution, 2014), and Ces femmes du grand siècle (Women of the Grand Siècle, 2015). She has a large and loyal following.