The Assassination of the Archduke

Sarajevo 1914 and the Romance That Changed the World

By: Greg King, Sue Woolmans

Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner

Drawing on unpublished letters and rare primary sources, King and Woolmans tell the true story behind the tragic romance and brutal assassination that sparked World War I.

In the summer of 1914, three great empires dominated Europe: Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary. Four years later all had vanished in the chaos of World War I. One event precipitated the conflict, and at its heart was a tragic love story.

When Austrian heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand married for love against the wishes of the emperor, he and his wife, Sophie, were humiliated and shunned. Yet they remained devoted to each other and to their children. The two bullets fired in Sarajevo not only ended their love story but also led to war and a century of conflict.

Set against a backdrop of glittering privilege, The Assassination ofthe Archduke combines royal history, touching romance, and political murder in a moving portrait of the end of an era. One hundred years after the event, it offers the startling truth behind the Sarajevo assassinations, including Serbian complicity, and examines rumors of conspiracy and official negligence.

Events in Sarajevo also doomed the couple's children to lives of loss, exile, and the horrors of Nazi concentration camps, their plight echoing the horrors unleashed by their parents' deaths. Challenging a century of myth, The Assassination of the Archduke resonates as a very human story of love destroyed by murder, revolution, and war.

©2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc. (P)2013 Greg King and Sue Woolmans

A marvelous but sad lesson on world history

This story portrays what can happen to the innocent when evil forces take hold. The book was an eye opener in not only looking at what the powerful have done in the past, but also makes one realize how we still have the same lust for power and control in the world today! An extremely well written book.

Franz Ferdinand and Sophie

This was a well organized and researched book. Telling the story of this couples love for each other and their children and the times in which they lived and died. I enjoyed it and learned from this audio presentation. I also like how the authors followed the lives of the children and gave a fascinating perspective of the history of the events of this time.

Amazing Book

I loved this book. The story of The Archduke was compelling. I couldn’t recommend this book more. It was educational but even more entertaining.

pretty good book over all

I really enjoyed the book. the narrator is a little stiff . Not much emotion in the story telling.

Very interesting read

This is one of the best historical biographies I listen to in a long time.