The last baron : the Paris kidnapping that brought down an empire / Tom Sancton.
Material type:
TextPublisher: New York : Dutton, [2022]Description: 351 pages ; 23 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9780593183809
- 0593183800
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | NonFiction | 364.154 S212 | Available | 33111010818355 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
A riveting, on-the-edge-of-your-seat tale about the notorious 1978 kidnapping of Baron douard-Jean"Wado" Empain, intertwined with the story of his famous grandfather, the first baron and builder of the Paris Metro. A multigenerational saga told against the backdrops of both Belle poque 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.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
"A riveting on-the-edge-of-your-seat story about the famous 1970s Patty Hearst-style kidnapping of Baron Edouard "Wado" Empain, juxtaposed with the story of his famous grandfather, the first Baron, who built the Paris Metro, all with the fascinating alternating backgrounds of both Belle Epoque and 1970s high-fashion Paris. What does it take to create a dynasty? What does it take to keep one alive? And what does it take to keep one man alive, once the society surrounding wealth, power, and influence in 1970s France begins to crumble, and society begins to question it all? Beginning in 1896, the first Baron Empain built both the Paris Metro and an empire from France to Belgian to Egypt that his grandson, Edouard (aka Wado), would inherit, diversify, and expand in the 1960s and '70s. But by 1978, the world had turned against industry and wealth, with high-profile kidnappings like Patty Hearst's happening around the globe. Alan Callioll, then a small-time gangster who had grown up in vastly different circumstances but was no less brilliant, saw an opportunity. He and his confederates executed a successful kidnapping, snatching Wado off the Paris streets, sure that they'd get the 2 million francs they demanded in ransom. But nothing unfolded as the team, or Wado himself, expected. Would Wado's company pay? How much was a leader, and a person, worth? And could the French police outsmart the kidnappers? The roots of each question lay deep in the past, back into the first Baron Empain's history, Wado's own parents and childhood, and the overall understanding of how the city that the Empain family built just might not need them anymore"-- Provided by publisher.