My beloved city, Paris

The audiobook Paris, My Good City, written by Robert Merle, translated by Miroslav Drápal. Read by Zbyšek Horák, directed by Jakub Tabery. Fortunes of France #3 The third part of the historical saga Fortunes of France. The continuing story of the country nobleman and doctor in the king's service, Pierre de Siorac. France is still ruled by the weak and ailing King Charles IX of Valois. However, the real driving force is Admiral Coligny, a high-born and devout Huguenot. This is a fact that Charles IX's mother, Catherine de' Medici, finds very difficult to accept. Moreover, the Queen Mother is marrying off her daughter, Margot, to Henry of Navarre, who is also a Huguenot. This situation (the 'dominance' of the Huguenots) is extremely hard for the Catholic nobles and church dignitaries to bear. Even the most skilled historians are still unclear as to who actually came up with the idea of slaughtering the Huguenot lords gathered in Paris for the wedding ceremonies. There are even theories that the killing was originally intended to be limited to Coligny and a few prominent reformed aristocrats. In any case, the massacre, which went down in history as the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, did take place. And Pierre de Siorac, who had just come to Paris at that time to beg the king for a pardon for killing a rival in an illegal duel, finds himself trapped in the city. Among the most furious opponents of the Huguenots are the common people, fanaticised by Catholic priests—the so-called 'good people of Paris'. Siorac, against his will, becomes an eyewitness to the horrors of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre and the atrocities committed in the following days. ROBERT MERLE Robert Merle (born 28 August 1908, Tébessa, Algeria – died 27 March 2004, Grosrouvre, Yvelines, France) was a French novelist, playwright, literary historian, translator, and professor of English and American literature. He is famous, for example, for his utopian sci-fi novel Malevil and the thirteen-part historical saga known in Czech as Dědictví otců (Fortunes of France). Some of his novels (e.g., Weekend at Zuydcoote, Malevil, The Day of the Dolphin) have also been successfully adapted into films. Robert Merle was born in Algeria, the son of an officer. In 1918, his family moved to Paris. Here, he studied English, philosophy, and literary studies. During the war, Robert Merle was captured at the Battle of Dunkirk and spent three years in German captivity. After the war, he worked as a professor of English and American literature. He then devoted himself mainly to his literary work. ZBYŠEK HORÁK A Czech presenter and voice actor. For years, he worked at Czech Radio, Czech Television, and TV Nova. You might recognise him from television as the voice of Jeremy Clarkson, one of the three presenters of the popular motoring show Top Gear. His voiceovers for the reports in the show Toulavá kamera are also well known. Currently, he works mainly in voice acting. He has recently also started narrating audiobooks. For Audiotéka, he has excellently narrated, among other things, the entire works to date of Liu Cixin.