russia

Robert K. Massie's account of the last days of tsarist Russia is intelligently written. Even if one is not historically inclined, one will automatically find onself drawn to this tragic tale. The book is so desciptive that one is almost lead to believe that Massie himself witnessed every event. If I must add any criticism of the book, it would be that Massie overestimates the the influence that Rasputin had on the fall of the Imperial government. It is true that Rasputin helped hasten the government's downfall , but it would have fell nonetheless due its subjection to a weak ruler and his neurotic wife. In all fairness, I must say that this minor point is not enough to dissuade me from giving it five stars. It is a must read for all those who love history, especially Russian history!

"Nicholas and Alexandra" is a fantastic history book that I can thoroughly recommend to all readers. The book is truly "unputdownable" and if it were not a history book, it could almost have read as a novel.

The end of the Romanov dynasty is a work of tragedy. Here we have this closely bound intimate family playing out a drama against the backdrop of the First World War and the Russian Revolution. Yet tragedy almost becomes farce when the role of Rasputin is considered. The Czarina is quite spellbound by the man despite the damage that his decisions have for the family and the dynasty.

In "Nicholas and Alexandra", we see the unfolding of the downfall of autocracy which, in due course, would have been inevitable. The First World War simply accelerated the process. Yet while we should shed no tears for the fall of autocrats, the rise of an even more vile autocracy under Lenin heaps tragedy upon tragedy. The history of modern Russia is tragedy writ large.

Robert K Massie covers the events leading to the execution of the royal family in great detail but without ever deluging the reader with arcane facts that detract from the picture that he paints. The end result is a work of substance and colour.

I emphatically recommend this book to all readers of modern history. Robert K Massie has excelled!

Why go for fiction when you can get a riveting true story like what happened to the Romanovs? The book starts with Nicholas' unexpected coronation as Tsar in 1894, and slowly but surely the story unfolds towards the gruesome end 25 years later. The saddening thing about this episode in history is that despite Rasputin, despite the heir Alexis with his hemophilia, despite the Empress' foilies, I left the book believing that the Tsar and his whole family got killed because he was just too kind and humble to make the tough decisions that Russia required during those turbulent times. If you consider Stalin, a cynic may argue that evil pays.