{"product_id":"the-last-baron-the-paris-kidnapping-that-brought-down-an-empire-hardcover","title":"The Last Baron: The Paris Kidnapping That Brought Down an Empire - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eTom Sancton\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e 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.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTom Sancton\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Bettencourt Affair\u003c\/i\u003e and five other nonfiction books, was a longtime Paris bureau chief for \u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e magazine, where he wrote more than fifty cover stories. A Rhodes scholar who studied at Harvard and Oxford, he is currently a research professor at Tulane University in New Orleans, where he spends part of the year. In 2014, the French government named Tom Sancton a Chevalier (Knight) in the Order of Arts and Letters.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 368\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.4 x 9.2 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 05, 2022\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52158858494183,"sku":"9780593183809","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0793\/8329\/8279\/files\/fc02820c308b998a64c48042e8917a6f.webp?v=1780528797","url":"https:\/\/skinnonsmooth.myshopify.com\/products\/the-last-baron-the-paris-kidnapping-that-brought-down-an-empire-hardcover","provider":"SkinnOnSmooth","version":"1.0","type":"link"}