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Tsar: The Lost World of Nicholas and Alexandra
This spectacular illustrated history tells the story of the last Romanovs - one of the great tragic love stories of all time - with unparalleled vividness & intimacy. The text, which follows Nicholas & Alexandria from their childhood's to the Siberian cellar where their lives ended, is complemented by rare images from the imperial family's private collections (locked away for decades in Soviet archives, & published here for the first time), as well as by contemporary full-color photographs of the places & palaces the Romanovs knew.
230 pages, Paperback
First published August 28, 1997
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5,150 people want to read
About the author
Peter Kurth
20Ìýbooks28ÌýfollowersPETER KURTH is the author of "Anastasia: The Riddle of Anna Anderson," "American Cassandra: The Life of Dorothy Thompson," "Tsar: The Lost World of Nicholas and Alexandra," and "Isadora: A Sensational Life," and co-author (with Eleanor Lanahan) of "Zelda: An Intimate Portrait." His work has appeared in Vanity Fair, Condé Nast Traveler, Forbes FYI, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Observer, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, and Salon.com.
Peter Kurth lives in Vermont.
Peter Kurth lives in Vermont.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
January 5, 2014
I never get tired reading about The Romanovs. This book presented many photographs of the Tsar and his family that I have never seen, as well more personal info. that I also didn't know about, beautiful depictions of a beautiful family. Sad, haunting, but insightful.
January 3, 2018
This is really a coffee table book that tells the story of the last Romanovs to rule Russia. Peter Christopher’s photographs serve as a lens into Russia’s magnificent past. This was a time of opulent splendor when monarchs ruled Europe by divine right. The pages are adorned with photos and illustrations of 1,000 room palaces, cathedrals, yachts, coronations, balls, priceless Faberge eggs, and a wedding gown gilded with gold so heavy that the empress could barely stand up while wearing it. Most of all the book contains touching photos of the beautiful family of Nicholas II and Alexandra. I give the photos and illustrations five stars and the verbiage three stars but the synergy between the two makes for a five-star experience. You will enjoy thumbing through the pages of this book.
Author Peter Kurth tells the story of Nicholas, a simple family man that was thrust into the role of Tsar without proper experience or training for the job. He was a devoted husband and father that liked to shoot, shovel snow, and garden but really had no aptitude to be the Tsar and autocratic ruler of 1/8 of the world’s people. Nicholas knew that Alexandra of Hesse was his true love since the time he first laid eyes on her when she was only a girl of twelve years of age. Similarly, Alexandra was also thrust into the role of Tsarina without proper grooming for the role. She was a Hessian princess and a favorite granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She barely spoke any Russian at all and never lived there. She was very well educated, refrained from gossiping and a bit too prudish for the busybody, risqué Russian court of the day. The marriage of Nicholas and Alexandra was hastened by the demise of Nicholas’s father Tsar Alexander. It was during a turbulent, climactic time in the history of Russia. They would have to learn on the fly.
Much of Kurth’s book was really a beautiful love story. Nicholas’s parents were at first against the marriage. Nicholas threatened to become a monk rather than marry another. Queen Victoria was also against the marriage and said she didn’t wish to subject any of her relatives to that cold climate. However, they were destined for each other. Alexandra gave Nicholas four beautiful daughters before giving birth to the heir, Alexi, a sickly hemophiliac. This disease was passed down to random males from Alexandra’s (and Queen Victoria’s) side of the family. The pages are adorned with family photos of the girls dressed in matching outfits. Before I finished the book I fell in love with the beautiful duchesses; it was almost as if I were looking at photos of my own daughters coming of age.
According to Kurth, Alexandra was as devoted to Nicholas as much as he was to her. Kurth casts doubt upon rumors that Alexandra was having a physical romance with Rasputin. Kurth said that she signed letters with kisses and called herself mother to Rasputin and anyone else of whom she corresponded. She considered herself the mother of Russia. This was a woman that sat home and crocheted scarves and blankets for people. During the war, the empress and the duchesses received training and became nurses. They converted a palace to a hospital and the girls put in full days taking care of the wounded. This doesn't sound like a women caught up in the sexploits of the royal courts of Europe at the time.
The Russo Japanese War of 1905 cost the empire dearly. World War I was disastrous for the world’s economies and it was the death knell for nearly all the monarchies of Europe. No country suffered worse than Russia. The Tsar abdicated and the Empire was torn apart at its limbs with a series of revolutions by various factions.
The real death knell for Eastern Europe happened when Lenin and the Bolsheviks seized power. This to me was the end of an era of innocence. The Tsar and his family were murdered by a drunken mob of Bolsheviks in the cellar of a house in Siberia. Make no mistake, this was not an execution by firing squad but cold blooded murder of eleven people. The Tsar and his immediate family members and their doctor and a few servants were murdered in a blood orgy that took a good thirty minutes. In the end, Lenin’s hands had royal blood on them.
This could have been avoided had England’s liberal government of Lloyd George given the Romanovs permission to live there in exile. The author said it was really King George V that “shut the door on their hope for exile in England [because] the presence of the Romanovs in in England…especially the empress would raise all sorts of difficulties for their British relations in wartime.� Kurth said that the problem with Queen Victoria’s granddaughter was that she was of German birth. Incidentally, this happened at the same time that the British royal family dropped their German surname of Saxe-Coburg for Windsor because the former name was German.
Finally, the Great War and the abdication of the Tsar gave way to another type of autocratic rule that proved far more deadly and catastrophic for the Russian people and humanity in general than the 300 year reign of the Romanovs. This was another case of the devil you know is far better than the devil you don’t know. The murder of the Romanovs was just the start...the tip of the iceberg really for the iron curtain that would fall down upon Eastern Europe and result in the murder of about 35 million Russian citizens by their own government.
I’m sure I will remain haunted for some time by the ghost-like photographs of this lovely family. The knowledge that these four beautiful girls and this twelve-year-old boy were murdered in cold blood by drunken communist thugs for a cause known as socialism is more personal now that their beautiful faces are ensconced in my memory. I try to console myself with the knowledge that there would be another 35 million faceless victims of socialism in Russia and probably 100 million more victims elsewhere for that wonderful cause. This way, I can console myself that their deaths really aren’t that special when you consider the magnitude. But still�.look at those beautiful children and those matching dresses and consider how innocent they are. How could they? To hell with socialism.
Author Peter Kurth tells the story of Nicholas, a simple family man that was thrust into the role of Tsar without proper experience or training for the job. He was a devoted husband and father that liked to shoot, shovel snow, and garden but really had no aptitude to be the Tsar and autocratic ruler of 1/8 of the world’s people. Nicholas knew that Alexandra of Hesse was his true love since the time he first laid eyes on her when she was only a girl of twelve years of age. Similarly, Alexandra was also thrust into the role of Tsarina without proper grooming for the role. She was a Hessian princess and a favorite granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She barely spoke any Russian at all and never lived there. She was very well educated, refrained from gossiping and a bit too prudish for the busybody, risqué Russian court of the day. The marriage of Nicholas and Alexandra was hastened by the demise of Nicholas’s father Tsar Alexander. It was during a turbulent, climactic time in the history of Russia. They would have to learn on the fly.
Much of Kurth’s book was really a beautiful love story. Nicholas’s parents were at first against the marriage. Nicholas threatened to become a monk rather than marry another. Queen Victoria was also against the marriage and said she didn’t wish to subject any of her relatives to that cold climate. However, they were destined for each other. Alexandra gave Nicholas four beautiful daughters before giving birth to the heir, Alexi, a sickly hemophiliac. This disease was passed down to random males from Alexandra’s (and Queen Victoria’s) side of the family. The pages are adorned with family photos of the girls dressed in matching outfits. Before I finished the book I fell in love with the beautiful duchesses; it was almost as if I were looking at photos of my own daughters coming of age.
According to Kurth, Alexandra was as devoted to Nicholas as much as he was to her. Kurth casts doubt upon rumors that Alexandra was having a physical romance with Rasputin. Kurth said that she signed letters with kisses and called herself mother to Rasputin and anyone else of whom she corresponded. She considered herself the mother of Russia. This was a woman that sat home and crocheted scarves and blankets for people. During the war, the empress and the duchesses received training and became nurses. They converted a palace to a hospital and the girls put in full days taking care of the wounded. This doesn't sound like a women caught up in the sexploits of the royal courts of Europe at the time.
The Russo Japanese War of 1905 cost the empire dearly. World War I was disastrous for the world’s economies and it was the death knell for nearly all the monarchies of Europe. No country suffered worse than Russia. The Tsar abdicated and the Empire was torn apart at its limbs with a series of revolutions by various factions.
The real death knell for Eastern Europe happened when Lenin and the Bolsheviks seized power. This to me was the end of an era of innocence. The Tsar and his family were murdered by a drunken mob of Bolsheviks in the cellar of a house in Siberia. Make no mistake, this was not an execution by firing squad but cold blooded murder of eleven people. The Tsar and his immediate family members and their doctor and a few servants were murdered in a blood orgy that took a good thirty minutes. In the end, Lenin’s hands had royal blood on them.
This could have been avoided had England’s liberal government of Lloyd George given the Romanovs permission to live there in exile. The author said it was really King George V that “shut the door on their hope for exile in England [because] the presence of the Romanovs in in England…especially the empress would raise all sorts of difficulties for their British relations in wartime.� Kurth said that the problem with Queen Victoria’s granddaughter was that she was of German birth. Incidentally, this happened at the same time that the British royal family dropped their German surname of Saxe-Coburg for Windsor because the former name was German.
Finally, the Great War and the abdication of the Tsar gave way to another type of autocratic rule that proved far more deadly and catastrophic for the Russian people and humanity in general than the 300 year reign of the Romanovs. This was another case of the devil you know is far better than the devil you don’t know. The murder of the Romanovs was just the start...the tip of the iceberg really for the iron curtain that would fall down upon Eastern Europe and result in the murder of about 35 million Russian citizens by their own government.
I’m sure I will remain haunted for some time by the ghost-like photographs of this lovely family. The knowledge that these four beautiful girls and this twelve-year-old boy were murdered in cold blood by drunken communist thugs for a cause known as socialism is more personal now that their beautiful faces are ensconced in my memory. I try to console myself with the knowledge that there would be another 35 million faceless victims of socialism in Russia and probably 100 million more victims elsewhere for that wonderful cause. This way, I can console myself that their deaths really aren’t that special when you consider the magnitude. But still�.look at those beautiful children and those matching dresses and consider how innocent they are. How could they? To hell with socialism.
April 12, 2011
f you only have time to read one book regarding The Romanovs, Russian history, and the Russian revolution, this should be the one!
Lush in photography, rich in detail, stunningly organized and exquisitely written, this is a gem which chronicles the opulence of the Romanovis and vividly contrasts this to the brutal massacre that ended their lives and the rule of the Tsars of Russia.
The author and photographer show the before and after of the lush tranquility of summer and winter palaces and of yachts and compare this with the captivity of the royal family at Ekaterinburg and their murder in the basement of the "house of special purpose".
I've read a lot of Russian history, yet this book contained tidbits I didn't know. For example, the precursor and ominous signs which pointed to a doomed ending were rife from the beginning.
The shabbily erected accommodations for the populous during the coronation celebration left hundreds dead and trampled as peasants fought for souvenir mugs and beer and wine to fill them.
Knowing this event had occurred, still, the fantastic over-the-top coronation ball occurred, leaving a very bad perception from the start.
Warned of Alexandra's dangerous obsession with the mad monk Rasputin, Nicholas passively ignored the possible repercussion.
Involvement in WWI was disastrous as once again Nicholas' passivity and lack of leadership played a major role in the downfall of him and his family.
Hiding his son Alexi's hemophilia from those who could have had sympathy again proved an inability to judge the masses.
I highly recommend this coffee table style book.
Lush in photography, rich in detail, stunningly organized and exquisitely written, this is a gem which chronicles the opulence of the Romanovis and vividly contrasts this to the brutal massacre that ended their lives and the rule of the Tsars of Russia.
The author and photographer show the before and after of the lush tranquility of summer and winter palaces and of yachts and compare this with the captivity of the royal family at Ekaterinburg and their murder in the basement of the "house of special purpose".
I've read a lot of Russian history, yet this book contained tidbits I didn't know. For example, the precursor and ominous signs which pointed to a doomed ending were rife from the beginning.
The shabbily erected accommodations for the populous during the coronation celebration left hundreds dead and trampled as peasants fought for souvenir mugs and beer and wine to fill them.
Knowing this event had occurred, still, the fantastic over-the-top coronation ball occurred, leaving a very bad perception from the start.
Warned of Alexandra's dangerous obsession with the mad monk Rasputin, Nicholas passively ignored the possible repercussion.
Involvement in WWI was disastrous as once again Nicholas' passivity and lack of leadership played a major role in the downfall of him and his family.
Hiding his son Alexi's hemophilia from those who could have had sympathy again proved an inability to judge the masses.
I highly recommend this coffee table style book.
December 3, 2010
Though I’ve read different versions of the Romanov story a dozen times, the photos and images in this book were an incredible supplement to the narrative. The writing wasn’t exceptional, but I was enraptured by the pictures, art and captions. If only Robert K. Massie’s definitive books had been accompanied by such unique and dramatic images! I was thoroughly engrossed throughout the entire big, beautiful book. I read it over the course of several evenings and must confess that I was disappointed to finish it because I really felt that, more than any other Romanov books I’ve read, I was really present in imperial Russia. I cannot emphasize enough how well-structured the entire book was. The images of the family, of prominent locations, and various other notables were incredibly satisfying for a Romanov enthusiast like me.
July 19, 2014
Peter Kurth has researched and written a comprehensive and informative account of Russia’s last Emperor and Empress that is haunting and unforgettable. It seems like the lives of Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra, were doomed from the very start of their relationship. Beginning with their first meeting at a family wedding until their brutal murders at the hands of the Bolsheviks, Kurth’s fascinating account brings to life a vanished era. The relationships between members of the aristocracy, the religious undercurrents, and the evolving political and social unrest collided and resulted in tragic consequences for the Romanov dynasty. Included in this wonderful book are photographs taken from the surviving personal albums of the Romanov family and their entourage which had long been hidden in Russian archives. For anyone interested in Russian history, this book is a must read!
November 11, 2016
This is probably the best non-fiction book on the Romanovs I have read thus far! The writing is engaging, yet very detailed and informative, and the photographs are great too. There are plenty of wonderful candid shots, along with the elegant posed portraits that we most often see. Kurth managed to give thorough historical information without his writing becoming dry or dull. The anecdotal details really give a sense of these legendary figures' personalities, adding a lot of emotional weight to the ending. The political issues that eventually led to Tsar Nicholas' downfall(and the murder of him and his family) are explained well and provide good insights into both sides of the story. Anyone interested in history, and especially the story of the Romanovs or the Russian Revolution, will find something worthwhile in this fascinating account.
Read
January 12, 2017Informal notes, rather than a formal review.
More than a decade ago, business took me to Portland. There I fell in love with the city's variety of gardens, its vibrant artistic/craft community, and the thoughtfulness with which its residents had dotted the city streets with bubblers for four-legged residents.
I managed to steal an hour to visit Powell's, and there I found this and several other books, gently used, in double-filled shelves. The concept of a place so packed with an esoteric array of books that one could buy and bring home visit anytime one liked still makes my heart beat a little quicker.
I remember sitting on the floor in the midst of the stacks and leafing through Kurth's book and knowing that it needed to come home with me. Before that day, my only focused reading about the Romanovs was Massie's excellent Nicholas and Alexandra, and this was my first real chance to see the people he had brought to life so stirringly.
Over the years, I have revisited this book and continue to appreciate the selection of images, and the large format that enables them to be studied in detail. This is a worthwhile companion, even though additional images continue to become available.
More than a decade ago, business took me to Portland. There I fell in love with the city's variety of gardens, its vibrant artistic/craft community, and the thoughtfulness with which its residents had dotted the city streets with bubblers for four-legged residents.
I managed to steal an hour to visit Powell's, and there I found this and several other books, gently used, in double-filled shelves. The concept of a place so packed with an esoteric array of books that one could buy and bring home visit anytime one liked still makes my heart beat a little quicker.
I remember sitting on the floor in the midst of the stacks and leafing through Kurth's book and knowing that it needed to come home with me. Before that day, my only focused reading about the Romanovs was Massie's excellent Nicholas and Alexandra, and this was my first real chance to see the people he had brought to life so stirringly.
Over the years, I have revisited this book and continue to appreciate the selection of images, and the large format that enables them to be studied in detail. This is a worthwhile companion, even though additional images continue to become available.
April 8, 2019
Fascinating. Had me spellbound, even though I knew what was going to happen, I couldn't put it down. I have read other books on this subject, and came across this one by accident at my library. Many pictures that I had never seen before, and I especially liked the then vs now comparison shots. Still can't believe that this was how a country got rid of its monarchy. Chilling. Enjoyed it so much that I bought it on eBay for my personal collection before I even finished it.
December 8, 2009
Gorgeous.
There are no other words to describe this book. The photographs - from the last Tsar and his family in the 1900s and from Russia today - are breathtaking. No one can see them without wanting to visit Russia! And lots of family pictures have only been published in this book.
The text is fine - this was one of the first books I read about the Romanovs, so had a lot of great, easy to read information (apart from the conspiracy theories, Peter Kurth believed in Anna Anderson until he passed away - which was after the "dubious" DNA testing and before all the bodies of the children were recovered), but nothing in depth.
Highly recommended!
There are no other words to describe this book. The photographs - from the last Tsar and his family in the 1900s and from Russia today - are breathtaking. No one can see them without wanting to visit Russia! And lots of family pictures have only been published in this book.
The text is fine - this was one of the first books I read about the Romanovs, so had a lot of great, easy to read information (apart from the conspiracy theories, Peter Kurth believed in Anna Anderson until he passed away - which was after the "dubious" DNA testing and before all the bodies of the children were recovered), but nothing in depth.
Highly recommended!
March 19, 2024
This book was published over thirty years ago and was clearly aimed at the undiscriminating 'fan' club readers of books about the last tsar. At the time the best thing about the book might have been its pictures, certainly it wasn't the text, but today the photographs, while nice, are neither up-to-date nor particularly interesting. But the worst thing about this book and one that, even if I had read it when first published would have had lead me to give it a negative rating, is the inaccurate almost deceitful labelling on many of the photographs. For example:
On page 25 there is a photo of a part of the former Fabergé showrooms in St. Petersburg showing the name of Fabergé carved in stone - in Latin rather then Cyrillic letters - which means the carving does not date from the pre revolutionary but a more recent period and was probably added to this building, it is impossible to tell if it really is the former Fabergé showrooms, to increase the buildings marketability in the post Soviet period by adding a spurious touch of 'class'.
On page 168 a photo is captioned as 'revolutionary' soldiers packing up the palaces at Tsarskeo Selo after the departure of the Tsar and his family for Tobolsk. There is no evidence that either the Catherine or Alexander Palaces at Tsarskoe Selo were stripped of their furnishings at any stage before they were looted in WWII and plenty that the furnishings were in situ throughout the 1930's - particularly in the case of the Alexander Palace were there is a whole book full of interior shots from the 1920s and 30s showing the family's rooms still as they were when they left. The use of the word 'revolutionary' is also problematic, if revealing. These 'revolutionary' soldiers would have been part of the army of the Provisional Government which was recognized by all the other Allied Governments as the government of Russia. The actual process of large scale removal of furnishings from various former imperial and noble palaces did not get into its stride until late in the 1920s and 1930s under Stalin as part of a search for foreign currency. But the use of this inaccurate caption illustrates a bias to propaganda that should warn any reader of the text that this is a book not to be trusted with elemental facts.
Pages 174-75 has a colour illustration of what appears to be a painting of the Winter Palace during the October revolution. No artist is credited and their is no date for its composition though it was at the time of publication in the Forbes collection but stylistically it does not appear to date from the time of the revolution and certainly does not appear to reflect a reality, but a fantasy of what happened created by someone who was not there and probably hadn't seen any extant images of the extensive looting and destruction that took place. Again it is a biased and propagandistic image.
Also throughout there are images taken from the Illustrated London News but none of them are dated so it is impossible to be sure, and many reasons to doubt, if they are actually images of what they are said to be. This applies as well to various Fabergé picture frames from the Forbes collection which have images of the Tsar and his family but again it is doubtful if these pictures are original to the frames.
As for the text again there is plenty of bias particularly with regards to Anna Anderson the bogus Anastasia who was the subject of one of Mr. Kurth's more unreliable books and who Mr Kurth continued to insist was the 'lost' Anastasia long after the discovery the real Anastasia's remains and those of the other members of the imperial family and their servants. His attempts to muddy the water around the attitude of the Tsar's sister Olga to Ms. Anderson is particularly egregious. Olga makes clear in her memoirs that she never recognized the Anna Anderson as her niece and the willful ignoring of this fact is just typical of how very unreliable and possibly dishonest this work is.
There is no reason why anyone should read, let alone buy this book.
Also the 'spoiler alert' has been added against my wishes - I find it ridiculous in connection with most books and in particular one 30 years old. Is anyone going to be surprised by any of the above?
On page 25 there is a photo of a part of the former Fabergé showrooms in St. Petersburg showing the name of Fabergé carved in stone - in Latin rather then Cyrillic letters - which means the carving does not date from the pre revolutionary but a more recent period and was probably added to this building, it is impossible to tell if it really is the former Fabergé showrooms, to increase the buildings marketability in the post Soviet period by adding a spurious touch of 'class'.
On page 168 a photo is captioned as 'revolutionary' soldiers packing up the palaces at Tsarskeo Selo after the departure of the Tsar and his family for Tobolsk. There is no evidence that either the Catherine or Alexander Palaces at Tsarskoe Selo were stripped of their furnishings at any stage before they were looted in WWII and plenty that the furnishings were in situ throughout the 1930's - particularly in the case of the Alexander Palace were there is a whole book full of interior shots from the 1920s and 30s showing the family's rooms still as they were when they left. The use of the word 'revolutionary' is also problematic, if revealing. These 'revolutionary' soldiers would have been part of the army of the Provisional Government which was recognized by all the other Allied Governments as the government of Russia. The actual process of large scale removal of furnishings from various former imperial and noble palaces did not get into its stride until late in the 1920s and 1930s under Stalin as part of a search for foreign currency. But the use of this inaccurate caption illustrates a bias to propaganda that should warn any reader of the text that this is a book not to be trusted with elemental facts.
Pages 174-75 has a colour illustration of what appears to be a painting of the Winter Palace during the October revolution. No artist is credited and their is no date for its composition though it was at the time of publication in the Forbes collection but stylistically it does not appear to date from the time of the revolution and certainly does not appear to reflect a reality, but a fantasy of what happened created by someone who was not there and probably hadn't seen any extant images of the extensive looting and destruction that took place. Again it is a biased and propagandistic image.
Also throughout there are images taken from the Illustrated London News but none of them are dated so it is impossible to be sure, and many reasons to doubt, if they are actually images of what they are said to be. This applies as well to various Fabergé picture frames from the Forbes collection which have images of the Tsar and his family but again it is doubtful if these pictures are original to the frames.
As for the text again there is plenty of bias particularly with regards to Anna Anderson the bogus Anastasia who was the subject of one of Mr. Kurth's more unreliable books and who Mr Kurth continued to insist was the 'lost' Anastasia long after the discovery the real Anastasia's remains and those of the other members of the imperial family and their servants. His attempts to muddy the water around the attitude of the Tsar's sister Olga to Ms. Anderson is particularly egregious. Olga makes clear in her memoirs that she never recognized the Anna Anderson as her niece and the willful ignoring of this fact is just typical of how very unreliable and possibly dishonest this work is.
There is no reason why anyone should read, let alone buy this book.
Also the 'spoiler alert' has been added against my wishes - I find it ridiculous in connection with most books and in particular one 30 years old. Is anyone going to be surprised by any of the above?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 2, 2017
Amazing pictures I haven’t seen anywhere else and new details about the family... this book is a treasure
February 2, 2013
A fascinating pictorial depiction of the last of the Romanovs. I had just recently read "Fall of Giants," which covers WWI & precipitates the rise of communism & inevitable demise of a ruling family that was so terribly out of touch with their subjects. So this book was a good follow-up.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, archives have been available with diaries & pictures of Nicholas II & Alexandra. I got a different picture of Alexandra than what I had in mind by seeing stories of their love for each other. Alexandra impressed me as a strange person, but they did have a close & loving family. There are beautiful current pictures of locations together with shots from the family collection. Regardless of the fact that they lived such a privileged life amidst the cruel poverty of the Russians, it is sad how the family was treated & eventually murdered. They came from centuries of being told the people revered their Tsars. So even though they possibly could have escaped, they didn't really understand the hatred towards them & what they represented until it was too late.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, archives have been available with diaries & pictures of Nicholas II & Alexandra. I got a different picture of Alexandra than what I had in mind by seeing stories of their love for each other. Alexandra impressed me as a strange person, but they did have a close & loving family. There are beautiful current pictures of locations together with shots from the family collection. Regardless of the fact that they lived such a privileged life amidst the cruel poverty of the Russians, it is sad how the family was treated & eventually murdered. They came from centuries of being told the people revered their Tsars. So even though they possibly could have escaped, they didn't really understand the hatred towards them & what they represented until it was too late.
August 3, 2024
This is nearly a coffee table sized book, but what makes this book stand out is the pictures (both of the imperial times and modern). Most books focus only on text, but the pictures the author has included brings the text to life. This is not an exhaustive biography, but they are quoted, rather it is a sort of 'eagle eyed view' of the reign and death of Nicholas and Alexandra. This is a great first read if you've never read any biography of them.
January 25, 2014
The marvelous thing about this book is all the photographic documentation that's included. One hobby of Tsar Nicholas and his family was photography, so there is a great deal of photographic evidence of their daily life, a great deal included here. This book is a wonderful introduction to this tragic chapter in Russian history.
September 18, 2014
Lots of nice pictures. Nothing new information-wise. In fact, since this book was published the missing bodies of Alexei and Anastasia have been found, forensically analyzed, and reburied, and the family has been canonized so...a bit outdated all around.
September 22, 2017
I actually purchased a used hard copy version of this book and it's what I would call a coffee table book. Pictures are gorgeous and book provides insight into court life, royal residences and the ultimate demise of the Russian aristocracy. I would recommend the book for the pictures alone!
October 4, 2018
Beautifully illustrated book with a variety of topics (not just concentrating on Rasputin and the deaths of the Romanov family). Photographs punctuate the text well, and no expense was spared for full-page (in some cases even tr-fold) representations of the palaces and other pertinent material.
The text is concise but relays enough information for interest--not just to accompany the pictures.
The text is concise but relays enough information for interest--not just to accompany the pictures.
September 10, 2019
A beautifully put together book of the reign and last day’s of Tsar Nicholas II. I have read a great deal on the the Russian monarchy and this book would be a great introduction for someone wanting to learn more about the last tsar and tsarina, their family, and the Russian Revolution. The pictures are stunning and the writing is clear and concise.
September 30, 2021
I've read everything I can get my hands on regarding this time in Russia's history and about this family tragedy. There are quite a few little details in this book I never read prior and many pictures I'd never seen. If you have an interest in what happened to the Romanov family, this is a great place to start.
July 30, 2018
I got this book through my public library. I was quite surprised at pickup to discover that not only was (my version) a coffee table size book, but it was also a paperback one. This book was not compatible with my reading habits. The pictures were awesome though.
Read
October 15, 2023I looked at the pictures and read captions. Perhaps sometime I'll take in more of the text.
March 15, 2025
A good book, although some trifle inaccuracies.
April 8, 2014
I have always been fascinated with the lives and ultimate fate of the Romanov’s, the last reigning royal Russian family. Their story is a tragedy wrapped in gold and silk. They were the product of an ancient, outdated system that refused to die a peaceful death. The final straw was a family feud that covered the world, resulting in over 37 million dead and changing Europe forever. Were they the cause of all this misery or just another handful of collateral causalities? I would say that this book falls short of answering such questions but it probably wasn’t designed to. What this book does do in show the reader the splendor and unrealistic luxury the last Tsar and his family lived in. One can only say that they like the peasant folk that ultimately overthrew them were products of their time; a time that moved at a snails pace while the rest of the world was rushing toward a brave new world. This book is richly and profusely illustrated (something most of the books I tend to read aren’t) and would satisfy both readers and non-readers as each picture, as the saying goes, is worth a thousand words. I read the Dutch translation of the original but I feel sure that nothing was lost in the translation. I recently came across this book in a flea market and decided to liberate it on a whim. It is an action I will never regret and I highly recommend it to both lovers of history and beautiful things.
December 2, 2010
The ever romantic story of the Romanovs, the fall of Imperial Russia and the quest to prove those bones so badly contaminated are the actual remains of Russia's last ruling family. Peter Kurth, writes of course what all historians know of the Imperial Family. The photographs throughout the large tome, are some rare and many seen before. Showing the family's way of life, and how wrong the public and government were, how they characterise Nicholas and his dear wife Alexandra... so many inaccurate things were said about the family, and about the two star-crossed lovers who supposedly ended the 300-year ruling Dynasty. I recommend this book, for people who have a strong liking and fascination with the Romanovs, though most of the things, are what have been passed about through history, the rumors, the horrid claims of the Bolsheviks, and how they boasted of the family's demise in July of 1918.
A recommended Romanov book for all fans of the Mystery of the fall of Imperial Russia, that ended so abruptly in a little cellar room in faraway Ekaterinburg...
A recommended Romanov book for all fans of the Mystery of the fall of Imperial Russia, that ended so abruptly in a little cellar room in faraway Ekaterinburg...
February 24, 2009
Easy to follow biography of the last royal family of Russia. I was able to keep everyone straight (lots of relatives and aristocrats and revolutionaries). I have always been interested in revolutions, and Peter Kurth places a weighty share of the blame on the silly, decadent elites who refused any kind of reform. I would own this book just for its description of the events leading up to the revolution.
The pictures in this make it worthy of a fine coffee table.
This book actually helped me understand more about Alexandra's attempts to be a good mother in a decaying society and an institution (Russian royalty) that was seriously flawed. As the oldest daughter of Queen Victoria, she was scandalized by the loose morals of Russian aristocrats and kept her daughters home most of the time knitting. And they had bad handwriting. Weird.
The pictures in this make it worthy of a fine coffee table.
This book actually helped me understand more about Alexandra's attempts to be a good mother in a decaying society and an institution (Russian royalty) that was seriously flawed. As the oldest daughter of Queen Victoria, she was scandalized by the loose morals of Russian aristocrats and kept her daughters home most of the time knitting. And they had bad handwriting. Weird.
January 22, 2023
Suddenly, maybe because I'm doing dry January, history is calling to me. Because I work in a library, I have all the history books I could ever want. This was amazing. I was aware of that Romanov family but not totally. My God, I can see this happening today. Read history! Those poor kids were innocent; born into a truly bizarre life. Their parents were clueless. Sad, and Rasputin, what a character.
August 31, 2007
Beautiful photographs, excellent text, very well put together. The illustrations are well labeled, explained, and connected to the topic being discussed in the text - always a sticking point for me. They did a great job of putting a picture taken during the reign of the Romanovs next to a contemporary photo of the same thing.
November 7, 2011
This was a great book for an overview of the last ruling Romanov family and it's demise. The overwhelming array of photos (all nicely labeled) gave a real insight into what it looked like to live in that time frame. It took me about a day to read through the whole book...maybe 5-6 hours total reading time. All in all an enjoyable read.
September 7, 2016
While the book gives interesting inside information regarding the last Russian royal family, you wont find a deep historical analysis. The photographs are the main draw of the book and they are great. It reads like a family album, tracing the lives of Nicholas and his wife from their early years to their executions.
January 3, 2009
+The pictures were amazing
+It was an incredible book...and such a sad story.
+I loved the conspiracy theories.
+I love learning about the Romanovs & Rasputin!
-There were too many names that popped up...it was tough to keep up!
+It was an incredible book...and such a sad story.
+I loved the conspiracy theories.
+I love learning about the Romanovs & Rasputin!
-There were too many names that popped up...it was tough to keep up!
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