From Publishers Weekly
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.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Book Description
The true story of Madagascar's very own Red Queen
Ounce for ounce as insane as her Roman counterpart, Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar surpassed Caligula's legendary cruelty a million times over. Beginning in 1828, her 35-year reign was measured in bodies: a million of her own subjects were ritually executed; ten thousand slaves perished in a week. Female Caligula tells the true story of the bizarre court life (which involved guests picking lice from each other's hair during dinner), as well as the outrageous costumes and extravagances (including living quarters decorated entirely with silver bells) behind Ranavalona's famously bloody reign. Female Caligula is a must-read for anyone interested in one of the few women who joined history's rogues' gallery of insane despots.
Keith Laidler, PhD (County Durham, UK), is the author of the bestselling The Last Empress (paper: 0-470-87155-5; cloth: 0-470-84880-4).
Ounce for ounce as insane as her Roman counterpart, Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar surpassed Caligula's legendary cruelty a million times over. Beginning in 1828, her 35-year reign was measured in bodies: a million of her own subjects were ritually executed; ten thousand slaves perished in a week. Female Caligula tells the true story of the bizarre court life (which involved guests picking lice from each other's hair during dinner), as well as the outrageous costumes and extravagances (including living quarters decorated entirely with silver bells) behind Ranavalona's famously bloody reign. Female Caligula is a must-read for anyone interested in one of the few women who joined history's rogues' gallery of insane despots.
Keith Laidler, PhD (County Durham, UK), is the author of the bestselling The Last Empress (paper: 0-470-87155-5; cloth: 0-470-84880-4).
