9780593510063
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The Last Baron audiobook

  • By: Tom Sancton
  • Narrator: Arthur Morey
  • Category: Europe, France, History
  • Length: 9 hours 33 minutes
  • Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
  • Publish date: January 01, 2022
  • Language: English
  • (165 ratings)
(165 ratings)
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The Last Baron Audiobook Summary

A riveting, on-the-edge-of-your-seat tale about the notorious 1978 kidnapping of Baron Édouard-Jean “Wado” Empain, intertwined with the story of his famous grandfather, the first baron and builder of the Paris Métro. A multigenerational saga told against the backdrops of both Belle Époque and 1970s high-fashion Paris.

What does it take to create a dynasty? What does it take to keep one going? And what does it take to save the life of the dazzling but flawed man who inherited it all? Launched in the 1880s by the first baron, the Empain industrial empire spread from Belgium and France to span more than a dozen countries. When Wado took over, he further expanded the company, became a key player in France’s nuclear sector, and, by the mid-1970s, was one of the country’s most powerful business leaders—a self-described “master of the universe.” But these were also the “years of lead,” marked by a rash of high-profile kidnappings around the globe, including the headline-grabbing seizure of American heiress Patty Hearst.

Wado’s vertiginous rise caught the eye of Alain Cailloll, a small-time gangster who had grown up in a wealthy family before embracing a life of crime. On January 23, 1978, Caillol and his confederates snatched the baron off the Paris streets, sure that they’d get the 80 million francs they demanded in ransom. To show they meant business, they chopped off Wado’s little finger and warned that more body parts would follow.
 
But nothing unfolded as the kidnappers, or Wado himself, expected. Would Empain’s company pay? Could his family afford this astronomical sum? How much was the life of a leader, a father, and a husband worth? Most important, could a determined police chief and his crack investigators outsmart the kidnappers? The answers to those questions unspooled over two months in a tangle of events leading to a bloody showdown whose consequences would prove fatal to the Empain dynasty.

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The Last Baron Audiobook Narrator

Arthur Morey is the narrator of The Last Baron audiobook that was written by Tom Sancton

About the Author(s) of The Last Baron

Tom Sancton is the author of The Last Baron

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The Last Baron Full Details

Narrator Arthur Morey
Length 9 hours 33 minutes
Author Tom Sancton
Category
Publisher Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Release date May 05, 2024
ISBN 9780593510063

Subjects

The publisher of the The Last Baron is Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group. includes the following subjects: french history, french books, french gifts, french, history books, history gifts, bettencourt affair, crime, european history, biography, biographies, world history, gifts for history buffs, biographies of famous people, autobiographies, historical books, history, france, autobiography, history teacher gifts, history buff gifts, history lovers gifts, historical, england, historical romance, british history, self help, regency, royalty, philosophy, military history, feminism, regency romance, buddhism, psychology, chick lit, History, Europe, France, History, Modern, 20th Century, Biography & Autobiography, Rich & Famous The BISAC Subject Code is Europe, France, History

Additional info

The publisher of the The Last Baron is Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group. The imprint is Penguin Audio. It is supplied by Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group. The ISBN-13 is 9780593510063.

Global Availability

This book is only available in the United States.

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