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The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia
Here is the tumultuous, heartrending, true story of the Romanovs—at once an intimate portrait of Russia's last royal family and a gripping account of its undoing. Using captivating photos and compelling first person accounts, award-winning author Candace Fleming (Amelia Lost; The Lincolns) deftly maneuvers between the imperial family’s extravagant lives and the plight of Russia's poor masses, making this an utterly mesmerizing read as well as a perfect resource for meeting Common Core standards.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published July 8, 2014
About the author
Candace Fleming
67 books551 followersI have always been a storyteller. Even before I could write my name, I could tell a good tale. And I told them all the time. As a preschooler, I told my neighbors all about my three-legged cat named Spot. In kindergarten, I told my classmates about the ghost that lived in my attic. And in first grade I told my teacher, Miss Harbart, all about my family's trip to Paris, France.
I told such a good story that people always thought I was telling the truth. But I wasn't. I didn't have a three-legged cat or a ghost in my attic, and I'd certainly never been to Paris, France. I simply enjoyed telling a good story... and seeing my listener's reaction.
Sure, some people might have said I was a seven-year old fibber. But not my parents. Instead of calling my stories "fibs" they called them "imaginative." They encouraged me to put my stories down on paper. I did. And amazingly, once I began writing, I couldn't stop. I filled notebook after notebook with stories, poems, plays. I still have many of those notebooks. They're precious to me because they are a record of my writing life from elementary school on.
In second grade, I discovered a passion for language. I can still remember the day my teacher, Miss Johnson, held up a horn-shaped basket filled with papier-mache pumpkins and asked the class to repeat the word "cornucopia." I said it again and again, tasted the word on my lips. I tested it on my ears. That afternoon, I skipped all the way home from school chanting, "Cornucopia! Cornucopia!" From then on, I really began listening to words—to the sounds they made, and the way they were used, and how they made me feel. I longed to put them together in ways that were beautiful, and yet told a story.
As I grew, I continued to write stories. But I never really thought of becoming an author. Instead, I went to college where I discovered yet another passion—history. I didn't realize it then, but studying history is really just an extension of my love of stories. After all, some of the best stories are true ones — tales of heroism and villainy made more incredible by the fact they really happened.
After graduation, I got married and had children. I read to them a lot, and that's when I discovered the joy and music of children's books. I simply couldn't get enough of them. With my two sons in tow, I made endless trips to the library. I read stacks of books. I found myself begging, "Just one more, pleeeeease!" while my boys begged for lights-out and sleep. Then it struck me. Why not write children's books? It seemed the perfect way to combine all the things I loved: stories, musical language, history, and reading. I couldn't wait to get started.
But writing children's books is harder than it looks. For three years I wrote story after story. I sent them to publisher after publisher. And I received rejection letter after rejection letter. Still, I didn't give up. I kept trying until finally one of my stories was pulled from the slush pile and turned into a book. My career as a children's author had begun.
I told such a good story that people always thought I was telling the truth. But I wasn't. I didn't have a three-legged cat or a ghost in my attic, and I'd certainly never been to Paris, France. I simply enjoyed telling a good story... and seeing my listener's reaction.
Sure, some people might have said I was a seven-year old fibber. But not my parents. Instead of calling my stories "fibs" they called them "imaginative." They encouraged me to put my stories down on paper. I did. And amazingly, once I began writing, I couldn't stop. I filled notebook after notebook with stories, poems, plays. I still have many of those notebooks. They're precious to me because they are a record of my writing life from elementary school on.
In second grade, I discovered a passion for language. I can still remember the day my teacher, Miss Johnson, held up a horn-shaped basket filled with papier-mache pumpkins and asked the class to repeat the word "cornucopia." I said it again and again, tasted the word on my lips. I tested it on my ears. That afternoon, I skipped all the way home from school chanting, "Cornucopia! Cornucopia!" From then on, I really began listening to words—to the sounds they made, and the way they were used, and how they made me feel. I longed to put them together in ways that were beautiful, and yet told a story.
As I grew, I continued to write stories. But I never really thought of becoming an author. Instead, I went to college where I discovered yet another passion—history. I didn't realize it then, but studying history is really just an extension of my love of stories. After all, some of the best stories are true ones — tales of heroism and villainy made more incredible by the fact they really happened.
After graduation, I got married and had children. I read to them a lot, and that's when I discovered the joy and music of children's books. I simply couldn't get enough of them. With my two sons in tow, I made endless trips to the library. I read stacks of books. I found myself begging, "Just one more, pleeeeease!" while my boys begged for lights-out and sleep. Then it struck me. Why not write children's books? It seemed the perfect way to combine all the things I loved: stories, musical language, history, and reading. I couldn't wait to get started.
But writing children's books is harder than it looks. For three years I wrote story after story. I sent them to publisher after publisher. And I received rejection letter after rejection letter. Still, I didn't give up. I kept trying until finally one of my stories was pulled from the slush pile and turned into a book. My career as a children's author had begun.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,200 reviews
January 16, 2015
Wow.
This was just superb. I kept hearing buzz so I picked it up at the library to just look through it and check out the pictures (there are two sections of photographs) and ended up fully engrossed, reading it from cover to cover in a day. I knew the facts of the Russian Revolution, and that the tsar and his family were murdered and the bodies lost and Rasputin was real weird and so on and so forth, but this takes you beyond the facts. Fleming paints a fascinating picture of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, using the letters and diaries of not just the Romanov family and their close friends, but also the diaries and letters of the common people looking up at them from their poverty. And the poverty was extreme, horrifyingly extreme! Not that it got any better after the tsar was deposed. Good grief, Russian history is horrible! This book should have been called Mistakes Were Made, but that could apply to the Romanovs, Lenin, Stalin . . . pretty much everyone. It was amazing to read about the opulence of palace life contrasted with the abject poverty and ignorance of the average commoner. I had no idea that the distribution of wealth was so extreme, either. We talk in our country about the 1% and the 99%, but Russia at the time literally had 1% of people living in palaces with gold-plated walls and eating exotic reindeer tongue snacks, while 99% mixed straw and clay with their bread to make it more filling.
I felt great sympathy for Nicholas and Alexandra after reading this. I mean, he was the worst tsar ever. The worst. He never should have been in a leadership position of any kind, and he was barely even trying to rule, even during the war. He was a racist, an anti-Semite, and kind of an idiot, but he could have muddled along quite nicely in life as a devoted husband and father, if only he hadn't been put on a throne. But he was. He had no training, no specific education, and everyone knew he would be a terrible ruler, but they crowned him anyway because the DYNASTY MUST GO ON. And Alexandra was a hot mess as well. Yeesh. Together and separately they were responsible for many horrible deaths, and so much sorrow. But nobody, and I mean NOBODY deserves to be trapped in a cellar with their CHILDREN and shot approximately 1,000 times. NOBODY.
THEIR CHILDREN.
Their poor children. That's what breaks your heart. Spoiled and sheltered and yet still basically sweet, good young people, and they MURDERED THEM. The man who orchestrated their assassination and took the first shot is burning hell now, that's one thing I know for sure. There's a picture in this book of the room they were shot in. The walls are covered with bullet holes and bayonet marks, it's absolutely appalling. Appalling. And for what? Did anything improve? Spoiler alert: everyone continued to starve and freeze to death under communist rule! Yay, communism!
Anyway. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this book and the events it covers. We could discuss it at length, but I should probably do some work tonight.
Suffice it to say: This book was riveting. If you are interested in history at all, you need to read this. If you are interested in Russia, you need to read this. This book took the facts of the Russian Revolution and made me actually see and understand it.
This was just superb. I kept hearing buzz so I picked it up at the library to just look through it and check out the pictures (there are two sections of photographs) and ended up fully engrossed, reading it from cover to cover in a day. I knew the facts of the Russian Revolution, and that the tsar and his family were murdered and the bodies lost and Rasputin was real weird and so on and so forth, but this takes you beyond the facts. Fleming paints a fascinating picture of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, using the letters and diaries of not just the Romanov family and their close friends, but also the diaries and letters of the common people looking up at them from their poverty. And the poverty was extreme, horrifyingly extreme! Not that it got any better after the tsar was deposed. Good grief, Russian history is horrible! This book should have been called Mistakes Were Made, but that could apply to the Romanovs, Lenin, Stalin . . . pretty much everyone. It was amazing to read about the opulence of palace life contrasted with the abject poverty and ignorance of the average commoner. I had no idea that the distribution of wealth was so extreme, either. We talk in our country about the 1% and the 99%, but Russia at the time literally had 1% of people living in palaces with gold-plated walls and eating exotic reindeer tongue snacks, while 99% mixed straw and clay with their bread to make it more filling.
I felt great sympathy for Nicholas and Alexandra after reading this. I mean, he was the worst tsar ever. The worst. He never should have been in a leadership position of any kind, and he was barely even trying to rule, even during the war. He was a racist, an anti-Semite, and kind of an idiot, but he could have muddled along quite nicely in life as a devoted husband and father, if only he hadn't been put on a throne. But he was. He had no training, no specific education, and everyone knew he would be a terrible ruler, but they crowned him anyway because the DYNASTY MUST GO ON. And Alexandra was a hot mess as well. Yeesh. Together and separately they were responsible for many horrible deaths, and so much sorrow. But nobody, and I mean NOBODY deserves to be trapped in a cellar with their CHILDREN and shot approximately 1,000 times. NOBODY.
THEIR CHILDREN.
Their poor children. That's what breaks your heart. Spoiled and sheltered and yet still basically sweet, good young people, and they MURDERED THEM. The man who orchestrated their assassination and took the first shot is burning hell now, that's one thing I know for sure. There's a picture in this book of the room they were shot in. The walls are covered with bullet holes and bayonet marks, it's absolutely appalling. Appalling. And for what? Did anything improve? Spoiler alert: everyone continued to starve and freeze to death under communist rule! Yay, communism!
Anyway. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this book and the events it covers. We could discuss it at length, but I should probably do some work tonight.
Suffice it to say: This book was riveting. If you are interested in history at all, you need to read this. If you are interested in Russia, you need to read this. This book took the facts of the Russian Revolution and made me actually see and understand it.
December 5, 2014
It makes me cringe to see "perfect resource for meeting Common Core Standards" on a trade book blurb. Savvy teachers and librarians can determine how to use quality books.
Well-researched and artfully written. The best book I've read on the Romanovs for any age.
Well-researched and artfully written. The best book I've read on the Romanovs for any age.
Read
January 30, 2016Well Done!
This YA history was just enough for anyone wanting a general idea of what happened to the fall of the Romanovs, the last Tsar and Tsarina, Nicholas II and Alexandra and their beautiful family. What I really loved about this edition of the many books written about The Romanovs is the format the author, Candace Fleming used in presenting the story of the emperor and daily family life, then in chapters titled "Beyond the Palace Gates" which gave voice to the people. These clearly show Nicholas' disconnect with the common populace.
In the audio version Kimberly Farr narrates the main story clearly and succinctly. Russian accented narrators bring this period of history to life in their performances of the “Beyond the Gates” segments. These sections were poignant and made this an outstanding read.
Recommended for high school readers and adults who want an uncomplicated overview of this important piece of Russian history.
This YA history was just enough for anyone wanting a general idea of what happened to the fall of the Romanovs, the last Tsar and Tsarina, Nicholas II and Alexandra and their beautiful family. What I really loved about this edition of the many books written about The Romanovs is the format the author, Candace Fleming used in presenting the story of the emperor and daily family life, then in chapters titled "Beyond the Palace Gates" which gave voice to the people. These clearly show Nicholas' disconnect with the common populace.
In the audio version Kimberly Farr narrates the main story clearly and succinctly. Russian accented narrators bring this period of history to life in their performances of the “Beyond the Gates” segments. These sections were poignant and made this an outstanding read.
Recommended for high school readers and adults who want an uncomplicated overview of this important piece of Russian history.
August 6, 2019
A breezy and concise historical account of Russia’s last imperial reign of Tsar Nicholas II, this non-fiction history book reads a lot like a novel.
Like with many other similar stretches of history, when viewed in retrospect, the course of events would seem to be so natural and predictable that it makes one wonder, had things been handled with more compassion and less hubris by those in power, if the odds of averting tragedies and disasters could’ve increased.
The Family Romanov gives an intimate account of the lives of the Romanov family members, namely, Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, and their four daughters, Olga, Tatiana, Marie and Anastasia and one son-and-heir Alexei. The account starts with the 1884 courtship between teenagers Nicholas and Alix of Hesse (who was Queen Victoria’s granddaughter), and carries us through to the tragic end of the whole family in July 1918.
Juxtaposing narratives of the opulent, hedonistic lifestyle of the Imperial family side by side with anecdotes of the peasant class’s everyday scourge of abject poverty, oppression and despair, the author presents a poignant picture of two diametrically opposite worlds, worlds inhabited by two classes that are distinguished by birth and destiny. Exaggerated sense of entitlement and obtuseness of the privileged ruling class becomes the cause of its own ultimate undoing.
I’m just puzzled as to why the French-educated Romanovs had not learned from the downfall of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
It is interesting to note that it was not until July 2007 that the remains of Alexei and of one of his sisters were finally found. (The remains of the other five family members had been uncovered in 1991.)
I’m giving this well-researched book 4 full stars.
Like with many other similar stretches of history, when viewed in retrospect, the course of events would seem to be so natural and predictable that it makes one wonder, had things been handled with more compassion and less hubris by those in power, if the odds of averting tragedies and disasters could’ve increased.
The Family Romanov gives an intimate account of the lives of the Romanov family members, namely, Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, and their four daughters, Olga, Tatiana, Marie and Anastasia and one son-and-heir Alexei. The account starts with the 1884 courtship between teenagers Nicholas and Alix of Hesse (who was Queen Victoria’s granddaughter), and carries us through to the tragic end of the whole family in July 1918.
Juxtaposing narratives of the opulent, hedonistic lifestyle of the Imperial family side by side with anecdotes of the peasant class’s everyday scourge of abject poverty, oppression and despair, the author presents a poignant picture of two diametrically opposite worlds, worlds inhabited by two classes that are distinguished by birth and destiny. Exaggerated sense of entitlement and obtuseness of the privileged ruling class becomes the cause of its own ultimate undoing.
I’m just puzzled as to why the French-educated Romanovs had not learned from the downfall of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
It is interesting to note that it was not until July 2007 that the remains of Alexei and of one of his sisters were finally found. (The remains of the other five family members had been uncovered in 1991.)
I’m giving this well-researched book 4 full stars.
October 4, 2014
"A blessing for the czar? Of course. May God bless and keep the czar...far away from us."
May 20, 2018
After reading about the Romanov family I definitely want to watch the movie Anastasia.
The Family Romanov: Murder Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia was so freaking good! It has definitely been a while since I've read about the Russian revolution, the Romanov family, and Rasputin. Before diving into this book, I feel liked I should say that knowing about Rasputin being real and shit still blows my mind and also makes me cringe. He was a creepy dude and I didn't like him one bit.
The facts in this book were mind blowing. I loved reading the letters throughout the book, whether they were from the actual Romanov family and friends but from the actual people as well. The things that they went through were heart breaking. I get that Nicholas was put into a terrible position and everyone knew that he would be a terrible leader. EVERYONE KNEW and they still went with him becoming the next Tsar. I also felt bad for Alexandra because I mean, these two were put into a terrible position with little to none experience or education for them to even do a remotely decent job at being rulers in Russia.
They were at fault for a ton of deaths and a crap ton of stuff that went wrong in Russia. Again, people knew that they would fail and be absolute shit in their positions. So there was no surprise really at how bad things went for them.
However, what happened to them and their children was heartbreaking. The kids were beyond spoiled and sheltered but they were also sweet and innocent. Kind of baffling if you think about it but these kids didn't deserve to die the way that they did. No child does. The man who initiated this whole things against the Romanov family is an asshole. I hope he's rotting in hell forever because the pictures of the room where they were all killed.. again, heart breaking. I didn't want to look at the pictures in this book.. but I also just had to see it for my own eyes.
Even after their deaths, nothing improved in Russia. People were still starving and freezing to death. People were suffering before and after the Romanov family was in power. Things probably could've gotten better if they weren't killed..but we will never know.
Overall, this book was an eye opener. It made me cry and broke my heart in some areas. The pictures mostly killed me a little bit. I am so happy that I took a random chance with this book and I will definitely be looking into reading another book by this author in the near future.
The Family Romanov: Murder Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia was so freaking good! It has definitely been a while since I've read about the Russian revolution, the Romanov family, and Rasputin. Before diving into this book, I feel liked I should say that knowing about Rasputin being real and shit still blows my mind and also makes me cringe. He was a creepy dude and I didn't like him one bit.
The facts in this book were mind blowing. I loved reading the letters throughout the book, whether they were from the actual Romanov family and friends but from the actual people as well. The things that they went through were heart breaking. I get that Nicholas was put into a terrible position and everyone knew that he would be a terrible leader. EVERYONE KNEW and they still went with him becoming the next Tsar. I also felt bad for Alexandra because I mean, these two were put into a terrible position with little to none experience or education for them to even do a remotely decent job at being rulers in Russia.
They were at fault for a ton of deaths and a crap ton of stuff that went wrong in Russia. Again, people knew that they would fail and be absolute shit in their positions. So there was no surprise really at how bad things went for them.
However, what happened to them and their children was heartbreaking. The kids were beyond spoiled and sheltered but they were also sweet and innocent. Kind of baffling if you think about it but these kids didn't deserve to die the way that they did. No child does. The man who initiated this whole things against the Romanov family is an asshole. I hope he's rotting in hell forever because the pictures of the room where they were all killed.. again, heart breaking. I didn't want to look at the pictures in this book.. but I also just had to see it for my own eyes.
Even after their deaths, nothing improved in Russia. People were still starving and freezing to death. People were suffering before and after the Romanov family was in power. Things probably could've gotten better if they weren't killed..but we will never know.
Overall, this book was an eye opener. It made me cry and broke my heart in some areas. The pictures mostly killed me a little bit. I am so happy that I took a random chance with this book and I will definitely be looking into reading another book by this author in the near future.
May 22, 2022
In light of what’s happening in the world today, the war in Ukraine, I felt that this was an unusual book for me to pick up and read but it had been on my shelf for awhile.
Not really well versed on the subject of the Russian Tzar and his family, I found this book quite interesting, enjoyable and sad.
I’ll be delving into other books about the family since now I’m completely fascinated by their story.
I recommend this book to all readers who are interested in the subject matter.
Not really well versed on the subject of the Russian Tzar and his family, I found this book quite interesting, enjoyable and sad.
I’ll be delving into other books about the family since now I’m completely fascinated by their story.
I recommend this book to all readers who are interested in the subject matter.
December 30, 2016
The difference between this book and others about the Romanovs are the little vignettes between chapters in voices of the people suffering under a Czarist regime.
I still recommend Massie for anything Russia. No point in reading anyone but him. He's much more knowledge.
I still recommend Massie for anything Russia. No point in reading anyone but him. He's much more knowledge.
February 1, 2016
I never knew I could read about Russian history and politics and be so captivated. It was such a dismal time and there was so much suffering. My heart feels heavy after getting to know the Romanovs and then seeing their brutal demise. Excellent read.
May 3, 2022
Deși subiectul este unul cunoscut despre destinul acestei familii imperiale, am aflat multe detalii interesante descoperind o poveste complicată despre acea perioadă descrisă foarte bine de către autoare.
Deci mi-a plăcut enorm scrierea captivantă, bine documentată, se observă că a fost efectuată o cercetare amplă prin redarea mărturiilor multor persoane.
Mi-a plăcut că autoarea a reușit să creeze o îmbinare originală între opulența nobilimei și sărăcia țăranilor fiind menționate mereu momente prin: dincolo de porțile palatului.
Autoarea cu un talent incontestabil te transpune în acea atmosferă tensionată, acele vremuri de neliniște, influența personalităților precum Rasputin, Lenin asupra destinului tragic al ultimei familei imperiale din Rusia.
Cartea însumează trei povești: prima se referă la relatarea detaliată a vieții Romanovilor, a doua urmează mersul năvalnic al revoluției, grevele muncitorilor, frământările sociale, ororile Primului Război Mondial și a treia este compusă din istoriile personale ale martorilor oculari.
Deci mi-a plăcut enorm scrierea captivantă, bine documentată, se observă că a fost efectuată o cercetare amplă prin redarea mărturiilor multor persoane.
Mi-a plăcut că autoarea a reușit să creeze o îmbinare originală între opulența nobilimei și sărăcia țăranilor fiind menționate mereu momente prin: dincolo de porțile palatului.
Autoarea cu un talent incontestabil te transpune în acea atmosferă tensionată, acele vremuri de neliniște, influența personalităților precum Rasputin, Lenin asupra destinului tragic al ultimei familei imperiale din Rusia.
Cartea însumează trei povești: prima se referă la relatarea detaliată a vieții Romanovilor, a doua urmează mersul năvalnic al revoluției, grevele muncitorilor, frământările sociale, ororile Primului Război Mondial și a treia este compusă din istoriile personale ale martorilor oculari.
May 19, 2021
Multă vreme nu am știut despre familia Romanov. Știam vag că au fost asasinați de popor și că Nicolae Romanov a fost ultimul țar al Rusiei. Mai știam că pe undeva fusese implicat un călugăr, Rasputin, și că se credea că avea puteri supranaturale. Apoi am început serialul pe Netflix care nu mi-a plăcut. Mi s-a părut prea romanțat și l-am abandonat după câteva episoade. Am aflat de cartea asta, dar mi-a luat ceva timp să mă conving să o citesc. Interesul meu pentru istorie a luat avânt după ce am citit în martie-aprilie, „Ultima romantică”. Mi-a plăcut atât, dar atât de mult. De la construcție la informație, mi s-a părut foarte echilibrată, ușor de urmărit și a făcut cu adevărat lumină în mintea mea. E posibil să fie a doua vinovată pentru setea mea de cărți istorice.
August 20, 2024
Knowing enough about the recent Russian history, Candace Fleming's "The Family Romanov" didn't offer me any new insights but it was nonetheless a well structured and written recount of the last Russian imperial family. The author chose the most important events and grouped them nicely into short sections. This helped reading the complicated Russian history super easy peasy. I recommend the book to middle graders and up who want to get a quick glismp about Russia around the turn of the century and the ill-fated Romanov family before jumping into bigger books on the topic.
March 18, 2020
This nonfiction book about the Romanovs and the citizens they ruled was both hilarious and heartbreaking. What happened to this family was a tragedy, I don't deny it, but in reading this book it became apparent that they truly were entirely oblivious to the nation they were purported to lead. With this work, Candace Fleming has created an excellent family and national biography that reads like a work of fiction but is completely true--which may be the most shocking part of all.
August 30, 2023
If there's a hint of a good story somewhere in the past, Candace Fleming has a talent for extracting it from the timeline with perfect precision, not overlooking a single sentence from the historical record that adds pathos or relevance to the narrative. She's capable of turning even a moderately interesting historical tale into something good, and had so much more than that to work with in the saga of the Romanovs, a royal dynasty predating Czar Nicholas II's coronation by close to three hundred years. The charmed existence of the ruling class has long fascinated the common man, who gaze up at the comfort and wealth enjoyed by royalty and dream of living in such splendor, being waited on by dozens of servants whose sole purpose in life is to make things easier for the first family of their beloved homeland. The regent of any financially stable nation has traditionally been entitled to lavish benefits the working man never will enjoy, but even a leader the people are fond of can reach the limit of how much opulence will be allowed him if his commoners suffer while he indulges in luxury. The have-nots generally show high tolerance for their royals enjoying an aristocratic standard of living, but daily anguish siphons their goodwill a bit at a time, and if the monarch carelessly fails to notice the draining of the goodwill reserve and act to refill it, his lofty lifestyle may come crashing down as though termites had been left to gnaw at the wooden pillars keeping his palace erect. That is the story of Nicholas II and the downfall of Romanov autocracy after more than three centuries of family rule over Russia, the death of a cherished royal tradition and perhaps the pivotal event in Russia's history, both internally and in its major role on the world stage. The collapse of autocratic succession emitted shockwaves that influenced world affairs for untold years to come.
Nicholas II wasn't a natural fit to be ruler. His father, Czar Alexander III, was more the imperial type: a physically intimidating, steel-willed dictator who kept the peasantry firmly under his thumb without being cruel enough to spark revolt. Nicholas, a lithe, sensitive boy without his father's aggressive demeanor, was an afterthought to the imperial court. As long as Alexander III lived, there was no need to think about the crown inevitably being passed on to Nicholas, and the young tsarevich was as relieved about this as anyone. When sixteen-year-old Nicholas met his twelve-year-old distant cousin, Alix, he didn't realize at first it was the start of a courtship that would blossom over the years into a royal marriage. For Alix would become Empress Alexandra after she wed Nicholas, and the final generation of Romanov rule would commence. Even a big bear of a man like Alexander III had to die one day, and when he did, a full-grown Nicholas assumed the throne beside Alexandra, whom he married a matter of days after his father's passing. The imperial couple weren't stilted with each other when they exchanged words in the privacy of their palace home, The Family Romanov assures us, and Alexandra reminded her husband that whatever troubles beset Russia, they would confront them together. "Darling boysy...me loves you, oh so very tenderly...you must always tell me everything, you can fully trust me, look upon me as a bit of yourself...How I love you, darling treasure, my very own one." The empress threw herself headfirst into her relationship with Russia's czar, committed to supporting him as the leader of one of the world's largest and most formidable powers. Nicholas would need every bit of strength Alexandra could give him for the unprecedented challenges ahead.
"I dreamed that I was loved. I woke and found it true."
—Alix, The Family Romanov, P. 27
As the imperial couple maintained a lifestyle of extravagance subsidized by Russia's massive monetary reserve, attending dazzling soirees on a regular basis and moving from one cavernous palace to another as the seasons changed, the lower classes were becoming discontent with the status quo. Millions of peasants rotted in the streets, working physically torturous and often deadly jobs that paid too little to keep a single person in bread, let alone a family. Children had to work a job if they wanted to eat, forgoing education to help their families survive another week. The middle class didn't fare much better, but peasants endured the worst hardship, and their meager income was leached to funnel money toward the palace treasury for upkeep of the Romanov family. The downtrodden in Russia had been in dire straits for years, but under Nicholas the crisis reached its flash point, when the huddled masses would not silently endure their suffering any longer. Alexander III had been a strict czar, though fair enough in the minds of his commoners, and they turned to his successor with the hope that an earnest petition to Nicholas to help them improve their quality of life would be graciously received by a ruler with his people's interests at heart. Would Nicholas hear the peasants and ease their affliction?
Grassroots social movement among the poor had been on the rise for more than a generation, and it started with self-education. At a time when the vast majority of Russian laborers were illiterate, peasants began picking up books and teaching themselves to read, though literature was as carefully censored by the government as newspapers, to eliminate potentially subversive material. Now the common man who worked an eighteen-hour day took time to read before going to sleep, and the literacy trend gained momentum as people learned to read and consider the opinions of social reformers. In the words of a weaver named Feodor Samilov, "Books taught me how to think." How crucial was it for the underprivileged classes to teach themselves to think independently after generations of them had lived and died in extreme poverty, every rung low enough for them to reach on the social ladder rotted to splinters? Literacy provided common points of informed discourse, and a view toward mobilizing themselves to request the lifestyle upgrades they deserved. The poorest of the poor could gather and intelligently discuss the treatment they expected from the czar. After compiling a list of reasoned demands, thousands of them marched on imperial headquarters to present Nicholas with their petition for change.
This relatively docile revolution didn't turn out well. Seeing peasants approach the Winter Palace in a sea of dirty faces and tattered clothing, imperial soldiers fired on them in a slaughter that came to be known as "Bloody Sunday", Nicholas being dubbed the "Bloody Czar". The people were confident their czar would have compassion on them, that Nicholas was just so far removed from the cares of the real world that he had no idea what the peasants endured and would leap into action if they let him know, but this incident destroyed the people's trust in him, perhaps irreparably. As serious social upheaval set into motion by insurrectionists such as Vladimir Lenin began, however, the imperial family had problems of its own. The birth of their first child, Olga, was cause for celebration, though slightly dampened by the fact that as a female she was ineligible to succeed Nicholas as heir to the throne. Next came Tatiana, and her birth was more troubling still for a nation and family eager to welcome the next tsarevich into the world. When Alexandra's third pregnancy resulted in another daughter, Marie, Russia was nearly inconsolable. The empress wasn't a young girl anymore, and carrying babies to term was a hardship. A fourth child, Anastasia, was born, and dark clouds of uncertainty shrouded the Russian sun. How much more of this could they take? The long, painful wait made the arrival of Nicholas and Alexandra's fifth child, a son named Alexei, all the sweeter. Russia had its heir to the Romanov throne. If only it were that simple.
Their request for an audience with the czar denied, the peasants' cry for social change grew more fervent, burgeoning into a rebellion that threatened to topple Russian autocracy. Nicholas had no choice but to capitulate to the demands of the furious working class, yielding key functions of the government to a cross-section legislature of citizens from every class of Russians. Imperial power was limited for the first time since its inception, but Nicholas's sadness over this development was tempered by other crises he faced. Alexei was not the healthy boy his parents hoped he would be. The littlest Romanov was born with hemophilia, a genetic disease on Alexandra's side of the family that almost cost the tsarevich his life a number of times. Any undetected internal bleeding was life-threatening, and all the doctors at the Romanovs' disposal could not cure the heir apparent. Many a night Alexei writhed in bed, a sheen of sweat on his fevered brow as he cried out in agony, his parents helpless to soothe the child's suffering. No one outside the family's inner circle knew about Alexei's ailment, for his hemophilia was a closely guarded secret. At about this time Gregory Rasputin entered the scene, and he would do more to advance the plot of the Romanov story than any other individual outside the family. At Alexandra's desperate plea, the supposed holy man attended to Alexei when the tsarevich appeared to be on the verge of death, and miraculously, Alexei recovered from his worst episode of hemophilia yet. Though Rasputin, reportedly a lecherous man who kept unsavory company and routinely drank himself into a stupor, occasionally fell out of favor with the Romanovs, his influence never disappeared, for several times he came when bidden and seemed to work his hypnotic magic on Alexei, snatching the boy back from the cold clutches of death. When Nicholas reluctantly entered World War I with a declaration of war on Austria-Hungary and Germany, Rasputin's clout with the czar extended even to selecting who would head Russia's various war departments, decisions based on who Rasputin liked and who had offended the "mad monk".
Regardless of Rasputin's poor advice, World War I was not going as planned for Russia. Inadequate material support for the military caused their offensive to stall, then be forced into retreat as the enemy pushed them back beyond their own borders, seizing large sections of formerly Russian territory. As millions of peasant soldiers died on the combat front because the czar would not properly equip his army, Russia lost most of Poland, and further losses seemed certain. What started out as a reciprocal defense of Serbia had turned into disaster for Russia, and its people, manipulated by Vladimir Lenin in his desire to implement communism, were out of patience. While Nicholas stewed over the war in a faraway palace, revolution came to Russia, and panicked messages forwarded to the czar had little success making him understand the gravity of the situation. Imperial sovereignty would crumble if he didn't act immediately to appease the public, centuries of Romanov rule vanishing like a burned-out meteor in the still, sacred night. Yet Nicholas continued to dismiss entreaties that he appoint a provisional government without delay, and his opportunity to keep the Romanov dynasty intact came and went. Could imperial succession have been preserved had Nicholas paid attention at this point to how upset his people were? It's doubtful, considering the frenzy they were in over the World War I debacle, but we'll never know for sure. Nicholas had been dethroned without even the dignity of voluntarily resigning, and the people would accept no replacement czar. Imperial Russia was no more.
Interim politicians had their hands full designing a government to satisfy the people who wanted democracy as well as those who insisted on full-blown communism, but the deposed Romanovs were not forgotten. They remained a symbol of imperial excess, anathema to the Bolshevik revolutionaries, and could be a danger to the revised political structure if public opinion ever swayed back toward sovereign rule. The royal family was shipped from one secret location to another across Russia, both to keep them safe from Bolsheviks wanting to make an example of them and to prevent their supporters from setting them free, but Lenin's men made it clear what they wanted: the Romanovs had to be executed, even the children. No trace of Russian autocracy could be permitted to survive. And so a game of death ensued, a race between the White Army fighting its way across Russia to rescue the Romanovs, and Lenin's bureaucrats, pleading with their dictator to let them end the Romanovs' lives while they had the chance. What happened next was a mystery that took nearly a hundred years to solve as people around the world wondered: what exactly happened to Russia's last imperial family?
Candace Fleming does what only true masters of nonfiction are able to: fleshes out people in history so skillfully that it feels as though they are fictional characters of ingenious design, almost too intriguing to believe were real. Yet the Romanovs were a historical family just as presented in these pages, and Candace Fleming merely uses quotes and other documentation about them to create a portrait of these captivating, tragically flawed people who still capture our imagination and evoke strong emotional response in us. Nicholas had tyrannical leanings, and could be shockingly callous and brutal in dealing with his own people. Some would conclude he was nothing more than a monster in hand-stitched finery, but that's the kind of one-dimensional thinking Candace Fleming refuses to settle for in this book. We get to know human beings better when we recognize life as a rainbow of subtle shades and hues, not just black and white. Ms. Fleming's unbiased treatment of characters extends to the Romanovs, Rasputin, and beyond, for a comprehensive and trustworthy record of a complex period in world history.
"You are filled with anguish
For the suffering of others.
And no one's grief
Has ever passed you by.
You are relentless
Only to yourself,
Forever cold and pitiless.
But if only you could look upon
Your own sadness from a distance,
Just once with a loving soul—
Oh, how you would pity yourself.
How sadly you would weep."
—Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna Romanova, poem dedicated to her mother, April 23, 1917, quoted on page 179 of The Family Romanov
There's so much history to cover that it would be easy to fall into the trap of emphasizing either the plight of the Russian poor or the concerns of the Romanovs, but Candace Fleming somehow affords the two equal time. She sympathetically portrays the hopelessness of peasants before the revolution, especially the heavy hearts of parents who watched their kids perish from malnutrition and preventable disease. Said one working mother: "I had eleven [children], but only three grew up. You'd go to the factory, but your soul always was in torment. Your heart always grieved for your children." And their suffering could have been relieved had the czar commanded it. How could parents not harbor burning resentment for their imperial overseer under those conditions? Russian author Olga Petrovna Semyonova observed the effect this trauma had on peasant mothers. "She soon discovered that because more than half of all peasant children died, their mothers were emotionally distant. They were afraid to love their children." That emotional safeguard used by Russian mothers bled so deeply into the culture that it was passed down from one generation to the next, long after infant mortality rates were not so abysmal. It saturated the Russian way of life and became a stereotypical affect of mothers from that area of the world for a long time. But even the Romanovs with their extravagant riches and state-of-the-art healthcare were not immune to the grim reaper's scythe cutting down their little ones, as Nicholas and Alexandra discovered with Alexei. The reader's heart hurts for them as they prepared for the passing of the son they adored. "When I am dead it will not hurt anymore, will it, Mama?" Alexei asked when a severe bout of hemophilia appeared destined to end his life. The tsarevich's words brought his mother to tears, and I suspect did the same for many of us. The children's French teacher, Pierre Gilliard, insisted that although Alexei could be a haughty, exasperating troublemaker who caused his academic instructors stress to no end, he was "sensitive to the suffering in others because he suffered so much himself". Olga found Alexei lying in the grass one day staring into the sky, and asked her brother what he was doing. "I like to think and wonder," he told her. About what? "Oh, so many things...I enjoy the sun and the beauty of summer as long as I can. Who knows if one of these days I shall be prevented from doing it." Each day of life is an uncertain gift for us all, but that truth was easier to grasp for Alexei because death had held him in its suffocating embrace so many times, only to unexpectedly turn him loose at the eleventh hour. The tsarevich was keenly aware he could not elude mortality forever. He wanted only to enjoy the life he had been born into for as long as he could before that day came when the sun would warm his face no longer.
We love stories about royalty, but the saga of the final Romanov generation holds unique fascination. Nicholas and his family lived at a time in history when the past was turning into a more technological future, with human and political intrigue as intense as ever on the world stage and hundreds of millions of smaller stages globally. Autocracy, monarchy, and classical imperialism were petering out and rule of the people was replacing them, though that was far from the end of the drama, especially in Russia. The end of Romanov preeminence was a jumping-off point for that massive societal change, and the lessons we can learn from Russia's first family are timeless. I would give The Family Romanov three and a half stars, and I could not have been nearer to rounding up to four. Nonfiction abounds about the Romanovs, but I don't imagine any other offering can be much more deeply felt than this book. Браво, Ms. Fleming, and thank you for refreshing my passion for this story.
Nicholas II wasn't a natural fit to be ruler. His father, Czar Alexander III, was more the imperial type: a physically intimidating, steel-willed dictator who kept the peasantry firmly under his thumb without being cruel enough to spark revolt. Nicholas, a lithe, sensitive boy without his father's aggressive demeanor, was an afterthought to the imperial court. As long as Alexander III lived, there was no need to think about the crown inevitably being passed on to Nicholas, and the young tsarevich was as relieved about this as anyone. When sixteen-year-old Nicholas met his twelve-year-old distant cousin, Alix, he didn't realize at first it was the start of a courtship that would blossom over the years into a royal marriage. For Alix would become Empress Alexandra after she wed Nicholas, and the final generation of Romanov rule would commence. Even a big bear of a man like Alexander III had to die one day, and when he did, a full-grown Nicholas assumed the throne beside Alexandra, whom he married a matter of days after his father's passing. The imperial couple weren't stilted with each other when they exchanged words in the privacy of their palace home, The Family Romanov assures us, and Alexandra reminded her husband that whatever troubles beset Russia, they would confront them together. "Darling boysy...me loves you, oh so very tenderly...you must always tell me everything, you can fully trust me, look upon me as a bit of yourself...How I love you, darling treasure, my very own one." The empress threw herself headfirst into her relationship with Russia's czar, committed to supporting him as the leader of one of the world's largest and most formidable powers. Nicholas would need every bit of strength Alexandra could give him for the unprecedented challenges ahead.
"I dreamed that I was loved. I woke and found it true."
—Alix, The Family Romanov, P. 27
As the imperial couple maintained a lifestyle of extravagance subsidized by Russia's massive monetary reserve, attending dazzling soirees on a regular basis and moving from one cavernous palace to another as the seasons changed, the lower classes were becoming discontent with the status quo. Millions of peasants rotted in the streets, working physically torturous and often deadly jobs that paid too little to keep a single person in bread, let alone a family. Children had to work a job if they wanted to eat, forgoing education to help their families survive another week. The middle class didn't fare much better, but peasants endured the worst hardship, and their meager income was leached to funnel money toward the palace treasury for upkeep of the Romanov family. The downtrodden in Russia had been in dire straits for years, but under Nicholas the crisis reached its flash point, when the huddled masses would not silently endure their suffering any longer. Alexander III had been a strict czar, though fair enough in the minds of his commoners, and they turned to his successor with the hope that an earnest petition to Nicholas to help them improve their quality of life would be graciously received by a ruler with his people's interests at heart. Would Nicholas hear the peasants and ease their affliction?
Grassroots social movement among the poor had been on the rise for more than a generation, and it started with self-education. At a time when the vast majority of Russian laborers were illiterate, peasants began picking up books and teaching themselves to read, though literature was as carefully censored by the government as newspapers, to eliminate potentially subversive material. Now the common man who worked an eighteen-hour day took time to read before going to sleep, and the literacy trend gained momentum as people learned to read and consider the opinions of social reformers. In the words of a weaver named Feodor Samilov, "Books taught me how to think." How crucial was it for the underprivileged classes to teach themselves to think independently after generations of them had lived and died in extreme poverty, every rung low enough for them to reach on the social ladder rotted to splinters? Literacy provided common points of informed discourse, and a view toward mobilizing themselves to request the lifestyle upgrades they deserved. The poorest of the poor could gather and intelligently discuss the treatment they expected from the czar. After compiling a list of reasoned demands, thousands of them marched on imperial headquarters to present Nicholas with their petition for change.
This relatively docile revolution didn't turn out well. Seeing peasants approach the Winter Palace in a sea of dirty faces and tattered clothing, imperial soldiers fired on them in a slaughter that came to be known as "Bloody Sunday", Nicholas being dubbed the "Bloody Czar". The people were confident their czar would have compassion on them, that Nicholas was just so far removed from the cares of the real world that he had no idea what the peasants endured and would leap into action if they let him know, but this incident destroyed the people's trust in him, perhaps irreparably. As serious social upheaval set into motion by insurrectionists such as Vladimir Lenin began, however, the imperial family had problems of its own. The birth of their first child, Olga, was cause for celebration, though slightly dampened by the fact that as a female she was ineligible to succeed Nicholas as heir to the throne. Next came Tatiana, and her birth was more troubling still for a nation and family eager to welcome the next tsarevich into the world. When Alexandra's third pregnancy resulted in another daughter, Marie, Russia was nearly inconsolable. The empress wasn't a young girl anymore, and carrying babies to term was a hardship. A fourth child, Anastasia, was born, and dark clouds of uncertainty shrouded the Russian sun. How much more of this could they take? The long, painful wait made the arrival of Nicholas and Alexandra's fifth child, a son named Alexei, all the sweeter. Russia had its heir to the Romanov throne. If only it were that simple.
Their request for an audience with the czar denied, the peasants' cry for social change grew more fervent, burgeoning into a rebellion that threatened to topple Russian autocracy. Nicholas had no choice but to capitulate to the demands of the furious working class, yielding key functions of the government to a cross-section legislature of citizens from every class of Russians. Imperial power was limited for the first time since its inception, but Nicholas's sadness over this development was tempered by other crises he faced. Alexei was not the healthy boy his parents hoped he would be. The littlest Romanov was born with hemophilia, a genetic disease on Alexandra's side of the family that almost cost the tsarevich his life a number of times. Any undetected internal bleeding was life-threatening, and all the doctors at the Romanovs' disposal could not cure the heir apparent. Many a night Alexei writhed in bed, a sheen of sweat on his fevered brow as he cried out in agony, his parents helpless to soothe the child's suffering. No one outside the family's inner circle knew about Alexei's ailment, for his hemophilia was a closely guarded secret. At about this time Gregory Rasputin entered the scene, and he would do more to advance the plot of the Romanov story than any other individual outside the family. At Alexandra's desperate plea, the supposed holy man attended to Alexei when the tsarevich appeared to be on the verge of death, and miraculously, Alexei recovered from his worst episode of hemophilia yet. Though Rasputin, reportedly a lecherous man who kept unsavory company and routinely drank himself into a stupor, occasionally fell out of favor with the Romanovs, his influence never disappeared, for several times he came when bidden and seemed to work his hypnotic magic on Alexei, snatching the boy back from the cold clutches of death. When Nicholas reluctantly entered World War I with a declaration of war on Austria-Hungary and Germany, Rasputin's clout with the czar extended even to selecting who would head Russia's various war departments, decisions based on who Rasputin liked and who had offended the "mad monk".
Regardless of Rasputin's poor advice, World War I was not going as planned for Russia. Inadequate material support for the military caused their offensive to stall, then be forced into retreat as the enemy pushed them back beyond their own borders, seizing large sections of formerly Russian territory. As millions of peasant soldiers died on the combat front because the czar would not properly equip his army, Russia lost most of Poland, and further losses seemed certain. What started out as a reciprocal defense of Serbia had turned into disaster for Russia, and its people, manipulated by Vladimir Lenin in his desire to implement communism, were out of patience. While Nicholas stewed over the war in a faraway palace, revolution came to Russia, and panicked messages forwarded to the czar had little success making him understand the gravity of the situation. Imperial sovereignty would crumble if he didn't act immediately to appease the public, centuries of Romanov rule vanishing like a burned-out meteor in the still, sacred night. Yet Nicholas continued to dismiss entreaties that he appoint a provisional government without delay, and his opportunity to keep the Romanov dynasty intact came and went. Could imperial succession have been preserved had Nicholas paid attention at this point to how upset his people were? It's doubtful, considering the frenzy they were in over the World War I debacle, but we'll never know for sure. Nicholas had been dethroned without even the dignity of voluntarily resigning, and the people would accept no replacement czar. Imperial Russia was no more.
Interim politicians had their hands full designing a government to satisfy the people who wanted democracy as well as those who insisted on full-blown communism, but the deposed Romanovs were not forgotten. They remained a symbol of imperial excess, anathema to the Bolshevik revolutionaries, and could be a danger to the revised political structure if public opinion ever swayed back toward sovereign rule. The royal family was shipped from one secret location to another across Russia, both to keep them safe from Bolsheviks wanting to make an example of them and to prevent their supporters from setting them free, but Lenin's men made it clear what they wanted: the Romanovs had to be executed, even the children. No trace of Russian autocracy could be permitted to survive. And so a game of death ensued, a race between the White Army fighting its way across Russia to rescue the Romanovs, and Lenin's bureaucrats, pleading with their dictator to let them end the Romanovs' lives while they had the chance. What happened next was a mystery that took nearly a hundred years to solve as people around the world wondered: what exactly happened to Russia's last imperial family?
Candace Fleming does what only true masters of nonfiction are able to: fleshes out people in history so skillfully that it feels as though they are fictional characters of ingenious design, almost too intriguing to believe were real. Yet the Romanovs were a historical family just as presented in these pages, and Candace Fleming merely uses quotes and other documentation about them to create a portrait of these captivating, tragically flawed people who still capture our imagination and evoke strong emotional response in us. Nicholas had tyrannical leanings, and could be shockingly callous and brutal in dealing with his own people. Some would conclude he was nothing more than a monster in hand-stitched finery, but that's the kind of one-dimensional thinking Candace Fleming refuses to settle for in this book. We get to know human beings better when we recognize life as a rainbow of subtle shades and hues, not just black and white. Ms. Fleming's unbiased treatment of characters extends to the Romanovs, Rasputin, and beyond, for a comprehensive and trustworthy record of a complex period in world history.
"You are filled with anguish
For the suffering of others.
And no one's grief
Has ever passed you by.
You are relentless
Only to yourself,
Forever cold and pitiless.
But if only you could look upon
Your own sadness from a distance,
Just once with a loving soul—
Oh, how you would pity yourself.
How sadly you would weep."
—Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna Romanova, poem dedicated to her mother, April 23, 1917, quoted on page 179 of The Family Romanov
There's so much history to cover that it would be easy to fall into the trap of emphasizing either the plight of the Russian poor or the concerns of the Romanovs, but Candace Fleming somehow affords the two equal time. She sympathetically portrays the hopelessness of peasants before the revolution, especially the heavy hearts of parents who watched their kids perish from malnutrition and preventable disease. Said one working mother: "I had eleven [children], but only three grew up. You'd go to the factory, but your soul always was in torment. Your heart always grieved for your children." And their suffering could have been relieved had the czar commanded it. How could parents not harbor burning resentment for their imperial overseer under those conditions? Russian author Olga Petrovna Semyonova observed the effect this trauma had on peasant mothers. "She soon discovered that because more than half of all peasant children died, their mothers were emotionally distant. They were afraid to love their children." That emotional safeguard used by Russian mothers bled so deeply into the culture that it was passed down from one generation to the next, long after infant mortality rates were not so abysmal. It saturated the Russian way of life and became a stereotypical affect of mothers from that area of the world for a long time. But even the Romanovs with their extravagant riches and state-of-the-art healthcare were not immune to the grim reaper's scythe cutting down their little ones, as Nicholas and Alexandra discovered with Alexei. The reader's heart hurts for them as they prepared for the passing of the son they adored. "When I am dead it will not hurt anymore, will it, Mama?" Alexei asked when a severe bout of hemophilia appeared destined to end his life. The tsarevich's words brought his mother to tears, and I suspect did the same for many of us. The children's French teacher, Pierre Gilliard, insisted that although Alexei could be a haughty, exasperating troublemaker who caused his academic instructors stress to no end, he was "sensitive to the suffering in others because he suffered so much himself". Olga found Alexei lying in the grass one day staring into the sky, and asked her brother what he was doing. "I like to think and wonder," he told her. About what? "Oh, so many things...I enjoy the sun and the beauty of summer as long as I can. Who knows if one of these days I shall be prevented from doing it." Each day of life is an uncertain gift for us all, but that truth was easier to grasp for Alexei because death had held him in its suffocating embrace so many times, only to unexpectedly turn him loose at the eleventh hour. The tsarevich was keenly aware he could not elude mortality forever. He wanted only to enjoy the life he had been born into for as long as he could before that day came when the sun would warm his face no longer.
We love stories about royalty, but the saga of the final Romanov generation holds unique fascination. Nicholas and his family lived at a time in history when the past was turning into a more technological future, with human and political intrigue as intense as ever on the world stage and hundreds of millions of smaller stages globally. Autocracy, monarchy, and classical imperialism were petering out and rule of the people was replacing them, though that was far from the end of the drama, especially in Russia. The end of Romanov preeminence was a jumping-off point for that massive societal change, and the lessons we can learn from Russia's first family are timeless. I would give The Family Romanov three and a half stars, and I could not have been nearer to rounding up to four. Nonfiction abounds about the Romanovs, but I don't imagine any other offering can be much more deeply felt than this book. Браво, Ms. Fleming, and thank you for refreshing my passion for this story.
January 11, 2023
Interesting read on the last Czar of Russia, his family and their fate. I listened to the audio and the narrator was good, plus at various times they used Russian sounding readers to voice the "peasants" and bring the story to life. Caution, if you know a bit about the Romanov family, you likely will not learn anything new from this. I felt much of it was just old stuff and nothing revealing.
August 3, 2018
תיאור היסטורי אוטנטי של תקופת שלטונו של הצאר האחרון לשושלת רומנוב ששלטה ברוסיה כ 300 שנים.
תיאור עלייתו לשלטון של הצאר ניקולס השני ונישואיו לאלכסנדרה נסיכת הסן. לפי התיאור הנישואים היו מאהבה אמיתית ואף היו מקור להתנגדות של הצאר, אביו של ניקולס. נראה כי ניקולס לא קורץ מחומר של שליטים והוא העדיף לבלות את עיתותיו רחוק ממוסדות השלטון ורחוק מנתניו שכרעו תחת הנטל.
יחד עם אישתו הוא פרש לארמון סרסקי סלו ומשם הוא ניהל את עינייני המדינה, בעיקר כשהוא מתייעץ עם אישתו, כשהוא מנותק לחלוטין מהזעם המתגבש בנתיניו. במועד מסויים הוא ואישתו פוגשים ברספוטין, שמשפיע עליהם השפעות שליליות ביותר. אישתו של הצאר כל כך מושפעת ממנו שהיא מתעלמת מעדויות קשות שמגיעות אליהם ומשכנעת את בעלה בחשיבותו של רספוטין לקיום המשפחה. התלות המוחלטת ברספוטין מוקצנת לנוכח מחלתו של הבן הצעיר, יורש הכתר אלכסיי, שנולד סובל מהמופיליה וזאת אחרי 4 בנות.
הפרישות מהעם ומהמרכז השילטוני והניתוק עד כדי עיוורון מובילים רבים להזהיר את ניקולס על ההשלכות החמורות אולם הוא לא שועה להם. העם מבקש שיתן להם שותפות בשילטון אולם ניקולאי פעם אחר פעם מפרק את הדומה שבה ישבו נציגי העם. הדבר מוביל להפגנות עממיות רבות משתתפים ולכך שצאר יורה לחיייליו לרסנן באופן אלים מה שיקנה לו את השם ניקולאי המדמם ויקצין את המירמור של העם וההתנגדות אליו.
המצב מתדרדר לכדי כך שרספוטין נרצח בשותפות של בן דודו של הצאר. התיאור של הרצח מזעזע, שכן כנראה שהאוכל שיועד להרעיל ולהרוג את רספוטין לא היה מורעל, ולכן המתנקשים נאלצו לרדוף אחריו בגן עם אקדחים, להכות אותו ולבסוף להטביע את גופתו החבוטה.
עם התחלת מלחמת העולם הראשונה, רוסיה לא היתה ערוכה לקרבות ומליוני חיילים נשלחו לקרב ללא אוכל וציוד. מליונים נהרגו כשניקולאי עיוור לסבל של החיילים ושל העם שנותר בלי מזון. החלק האחרון בספר מתאר את דימדומי שילטונו ואת המהפכה שלבסוף הובילה לרציחתו ולרציחת כל בני משפחתו. החלק האחרון גם עוסק בספקולציות שהיו שלא כל בני המשפחה נרצחו ובמציאת השלדים לאחר כ 80 שנים.
תיאור הלילה האחרון גם הוא מזעזע ואכזרי. בכלל ההרגשה שמתקבלת היא שאכזריות היא כלי מאוד אפקטיבי בחיסול חשבונות ללא התייחסות לעובדה שהילדים לא היו אשמים בדבר והרצח שלהם, ביחוד של אלכסיי שבשלב זה היה נכה ולא יכל ללכת על רגליו , בא לשרת רק מטרות פוליטיות של חיסול השושלת. בעיניי רצח של הילדים היה אקט נתעב של פחדנות ולא של גיבורים המצילים את המולדת.
הספר מעניין . בתוכו משולבים קטעים מיומנים של בני המשפחה ושל חברים כמו גם תיאורים אוטנטיים שנכתבו ונאספו מהציבור. יחד עם זאת הוא לא מתרומם לרמה של מחקר אלא הוא מצטיין באיסוף נתונים והצגתם באופן מעניין ולכן לא יכלתי לתת לו 5 כוכבים. יחד עם זאת הספר מומלץ.
הצאר ניקולאי מצטייר כמי שלא היה צריך או לא נועד לשלוט. חיי המשפחה שלו מצטיירים כאוהבים ומסורים ביחוד לאישתו ולילדיו. הוא מצטייר כאדם שאהב את החיים הפשוטים בחייק משפחתו ב��י העומס של קבלת החלטות שילטוניות אך יחד עם זאת לא ידע כיצד להתנהל ולשחרר את עול השילטון כך שהושפע מעצות גרועות עד רעות מאוד שהזיקו לו ולמשפחתו.
האטימות הזו ליועציו השלטוניים וקוצר הראיה שלו עלה לו ולבני משפחתו לא רק בכס המלוכה אלא גם בחייהם.
תיאור עלייתו לשלטון של הצאר ניקולס השני ונישואיו לאלכסנדרה נסיכת הסן. לפי התיאור הנישואים היו מאהבה אמיתית ואף היו מקור להתנגדות של הצאר, אביו של ניקולס. נראה כי ניקולס לא קורץ מחומר של שליטים והוא העדיף לבלות את עיתותיו רחוק ממוסדות השלטון ורחוק מנתניו שכרעו תחת הנטל.
יחד עם אישתו הוא פרש לארמון סרסקי סלו ומשם הוא ניהל את עינייני המדינה, בעיקר כשהוא מתייעץ עם אישתו, כשהוא מנותק לחלוטין מהזעם המתגבש בנתיניו. במועד מסויים הוא ואישתו פוגשים ברספוטין, שמשפיע עליהם השפעות שליליות ביותר. אישתו של הצאר כל כך מושפעת ממנו שהיא מתעלמת מעדויות קשות שמגיעות אליהם ומשכנעת את בעלה בחשיבותו של רספוטין לקיום המשפחה. התלות המוחלטת ברספוטין מוקצנת לנוכח מחלתו של הבן הצעיר, יורש הכתר אלכסיי, שנולד סובל מהמופיליה וזאת אחרי 4 בנות.
הפרישות מהעם ומהמרכז השילטוני והניתוק עד כדי עיוורון מובילים רבים להזהיר את ניקולס על ההשלכות החמורות אולם הוא לא שועה להם. העם מבקש שיתן להם שותפות בשילטון אולם ניקולאי פעם אחר פעם מפרק את הדומה שבה ישבו נציגי העם. הדבר מוביל להפגנות עממיות רבות משתתפים ולכך שצאר יורה לחיייליו לרסנן באופן אלים מה שיקנה לו את השם ניקולאי המדמם ויקצין את המירמור של העם וההתנגדות אליו.
המצב מתדרדר לכדי כך שרספוטין נרצח בשותפות של בן דודו של הצאר. התיאור של הרצח מזעזע, שכן כנראה שהאוכל שיועד להרעיל ולהרוג את רספוטין לא היה מורעל, ולכן המתנקשים נאלצו לרדוף אחריו בגן עם אקדחים, להכות אותו ולבסוף להטביע את גופתו החבוטה.
עם התחלת מלחמת העולם הראשונה, רוסיה לא היתה ערוכה לקרבות ומליוני חיילים נשלחו לקרב ללא אוכל וציוד. מליונים נהרגו כשניקולאי עיוור לסבל של החיילים ושל העם שנותר בלי מזון. החלק האחרון בספר מתאר את דימדומי שילטונו ואת המהפכה שלבסוף הובילה לרציחתו ולרציחת כל בני משפחתו. החלק האחרון גם עוסק בספקולציות שהיו שלא כל בני המשפחה נרצחו ובמציאת השלדים לאחר כ 80 שנים.
תיאור הלילה האחרון גם הוא מזעזע ואכזרי. בכלל ההרגשה שמתקבלת היא שאכזריות היא כלי מאוד אפקטיבי בחיסול חשבונות ללא התייחסות לעובדה שהילדים לא היו אשמים בדבר והרצח שלהם, ביחוד של אלכסיי שבשלב זה היה נכה ולא יכל ללכת על רגליו , בא לשרת רק מטרות פוליטיות של חיסול השושלת. בעיניי רצח של הילדים היה אקט נתעב של פחדנות ולא של גיבורים המצילים את המולדת.
הספר מעניין . בתוכו משולבים קטעים מיומנים של בני המשפחה ושל חברים כמו גם תיאורים אוטנטיים שנכתבו ונאספו מהציבור. יחד עם זאת הוא לא מתרומם לרמה של מחקר אלא הוא מצטיין באיסוף נתונים והצגתם באופן מעניין ולכן לא יכלתי לתת לו 5 כוכבים. יחד עם זאת הספר מומלץ.
הצאר ניקולאי מצטייר כמי שלא היה צריך או לא נועד לשלוט. חיי המשפחה שלו מצטיירים כאוהבים ומסורים ביחוד לאישתו ולילדיו. הוא מצטייר כאדם שאהב את החיים הפשוטים בחייק משפחתו ב��י העומס של קבלת החלטות שילטוניות אך יחד עם זאת לא ידע כיצד להתנהל ולשחרר את עול השילטון כך שהושפע מעצות גרועות עד רעות מאוד שהזיקו לו ולמשפחתו.
האטימות הזו ליועציו השלטוניים וקוצר הראיה שלו עלה לו ולבני משפחתו לא רק בכס המלוכה אלא גם בחייהם.
August 2, 2014
This is the perfect biography! Ms. Fleming has brought the "Family Romanov" to light with those small personal touches that make people come alive. Throw in a little early 20th century Russian political history, some first person accounts of the average daily life and you have a great read. Despite the fact that we know the how the story ends, the author has managed to to add an atmosphere of suspense. Interested in Russian history or just like a good biography,don' t miss this one.
July 15, 2020
What to say except that this is one of the great stories of history and I never tire of it. This book does a great job of making a complex narrative both clear and human. An accessible, engaging read.
April 22, 2023
I gave this 4 stars as this was a thorough story not only of the Romanovs from birth to death, but after their deaths, WW1. I found this interesting and kept my attention.
May 20, 2019
3.5 ☆
February 26, 2021
I walked into this book knowing only the basics. I knew there was a tsar, Nicholas II, then a revolution, then he and his family were killed. The first part of this book highlights the complete and utter incompetence and complacency of the last tsar of Russia. As a leader, he was a total failure in a very "let them eat cake" kind of way. While his terribly unprepared and unprovisioned soldiers were at war with Germany, the government was also fighting battles with the starving citizens of the country.
It's kind of easy to see how the Bolshevik came to the decision that the tsar had to go. During the first part of the book, I kept thinking that it made sense that they would have to take out the family as well. Can't leave anyone alive that the White Army (tsarists fighting against the Bolshevik rule) might be able to claim as Tsar. Plus, Nicholas brought all this on himself and his family. This was all his fault. But as the family huddled in their prison, it got harder to read about the final days. In the end, I can't really get behind the killing of the rest of the family and their servants.
And I really don't know what to say about Alexandra and Rasputin.
It's kind of easy to see how the Bolshevik came to the decision that the tsar had to go. During the first part of the book, I kept thinking that it made sense that they would have to take out the family as well. Can't leave anyone alive that the White Army (tsarists fighting against the Bolshevik rule) might be able to claim as Tsar. Plus, Nicholas brought all this on himself and his family. This was all his fault. But as the family huddled in their prison, it got harder to read about the final days. In the end, I can't really get behind the killing of the rest of the family and their servants.
And I really don't know what to say about Alexandra and Rasputin.
February 11, 2023
This book was eye opening. I already knew a lot of the things Candace Fleming talked about, but I was still able to learn quite a few things I hadn't already known (which I loved). I loved the layout of the book. It makes it feel like you are actually reading a story and not just reading a bunch of facts smooshed together! And I have to admit, I loved when she wrote about how Nicholas and Alexandra met! I found it terribly romantic!
January 13, 2021
This book was really delightful! I absolutely loved the writing, I did not think it was wordy and the way it mixed story and fact together was seamless. I feel like I know WAY more than I did before, and this book has really interested me in Russia and it’s history, so I will definitely be picking up more books about it in the future.
I honestly have no reason not to rate it 5 stars, other than the fact that it was just...missing something? I can’t explain it because I really have no idea what I’m trying to say, but the novel was just lacking that ‘little special something’ to push it to a five star read.
Please, if you like non-fiction and are looking for something interesting to read, PICK THIS UP!
I honestly have no reason not to rate it 5 stars, other than the fact that it was just...missing something? I can’t explain it because I really have no idea what I’m trying to say, but the novel was just lacking that ‘little special something’ to push it to a five star read.
Please, if you like non-fiction and are looking for something interesting to read, PICK THIS UP!
February 13, 2024
An easier-to-read historical account. Brought some clarity and new insights into WWI and the soviet era that has always seemed more mysterious to me. I couldn’t put it down.
January 16, 2021
O carte foarte interesanta, pentru ca este si bine scrisa si bine documentata.
O istorie trista si amara, ce nu trebuie uitata.
O istorie trista si amara, ce nu trebuie uitata.
March 23, 2016
Considering that my knowledge of this period of history can be summed up by:
1.) The animated classic Anastasia and
2.) Subpar world history lessons in the American school system
I learned sooo much from this book. Mainly that being Russian royalty would have been SO awesome and being a Russian peasant/factory worker would have sucked so, so, so hard. Which, really, isn't surprising and isn't specific to pre-revolutionary Russia. I also learned that Lenin had very little to do with the overthrow of the Czars, and really just took advantage of a favorable political climate when finally returned from exile.
This book made it hard not to sympathize with the Romanov family. Not that they weren't horrible rulers who left their country in shambles, because they most definitely were, and they were most definitely given several political outs along with way. But there were familial, cultural, and global factors beyond their control and, truly, they were also just people. When we got to the ending I knew we'd get to, I found myself tearing up while driving home (note to self:: don't do that).
To end, I'd like to make a note on the audiobook: I would highly recommend getting the audiobook if you can! While you'll miss out on the pictures that the print books comes with, the narrator does a fabulous job and there are male voice actors who read journal entries/historic documents and thus lend a deeper, secondary level to the narration.
1.) The animated classic Anastasia and
2.) Subpar world history lessons in the American school system
I learned sooo much from this book. Mainly that being Russian royalty would have been SO awesome and being a Russian peasant/factory worker would have sucked so, so, so hard. Which, really, isn't surprising and isn't specific to pre-revolutionary Russia. I also learned that Lenin had very little to do with the overthrow of the Czars, and really just took advantage of a favorable political climate when finally returned from exile.
This book made it hard not to sympathize with the Romanov family. Not that they weren't horrible rulers who left their country in shambles, because they most definitely were, and they were most definitely given several political outs along with way. But there were familial, cultural, and global factors beyond their control and, truly, they were also just people. When we got to the ending I knew we'd get to, I found myself tearing up while driving home (note to self:: don't do that).
To end, I'd like to make a note on the audiobook: I would highly recommend getting the audiobook if you can! While you'll miss out on the pictures that the print books comes with, the narrator does a fabulous job and there are male voice actors who read journal entries/historic documents and thus lend a deeper, secondary level to the narration.
October 22, 2022
I absolutely love Imperial Russia and the Romanovs! I learned about Russia in Grade 9 social studies back in junior high school, and since then have not relinquished my interest . . .
Even though this non fiction book The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia is geared towards young adults more, this book is very readable for adults too as it gives you a very comprehensive overview of the history of Russia's politics around this time, but a fair majority of this book focuses on the Romanov family and the events that lead up to the end of the reign of Tsar Nicholas II.
Tsar Nicholas II & the Imperial Family
I did like the author's incorporation of diary entries, newspaper articles, etc that gave a more complete picture and understanding of politics surrounding the country of Russia in that period of history.
If you're interested in Imperial Russia and/or the Imperial Family, I highly recommend this non fiction book . . . even if you are knowledgeable already, this is still a very worthy read!
Even though this non fiction book The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia is geared towards young adults more, this book is very readable for adults too as it gives you a very comprehensive overview of the history of Russia's politics around this time, but a fair majority of this book focuses on the Romanov family and the events that lead up to the end of the reign of Tsar Nicholas II.
Tsar Nicholas II & the Imperial Family
I did like the author's incorporation of diary entries, newspaper articles, etc that gave a more complete picture and understanding of politics surrounding the country of Russia in that period of history.
If you're interested in Imperial Russia and/or the Imperial Family, I highly recommend this non fiction book . . . even if you are knowledgeable already, this is still a very worthy read!
January 18, 2024
This book is aimed for a middle school/high school level reading. I have used this book in my Literature classes to help kids learn a little more about Russia. The author is very sympathetic to the Russian working classes and takes a pretty negative view on the Romanovs, especially Nicholas.
One thing that the students notice while reading this is the brutality of the Bolsheviks is equal to that of the tsarists regime, or even exceeds that, but Fleming seems to prefer the Bolsheviks to the royal family. You also get an idea why Rasputin was such a disliked figure in Russian history. The assassination of the royal family is harrowing because despite your political leanings, children were brutally murdered, which is not fun to read about.
I don't think Fleming is that great of a writer, but the subject is interesting and the reader is moved along by the fairly fast paced narrative, and you get a sense of what is plaguing Russia at this time.
A good introduction to the topic and perfect for the middle school reader. It's nice to have quality non-fiction that middle school students can choose from and even enjoy.
One thing that the students notice while reading this is the brutality of the Bolsheviks is equal to that of the tsarists regime, or even exceeds that, but Fleming seems to prefer the Bolsheviks to the royal family. You also get an idea why Rasputin was such a disliked figure in Russian history. The assassination of the royal family is harrowing because despite your political leanings, children were brutally murdered, which is not fun to read about.
I don't think Fleming is that great of a writer, but the subject is interesting and the reader is moved along by the fairly fast paced narrative, and you get a sense of what is plaguing Russia at this time.
A good introduction to the topic and perfect for the middle school reader. It's nice to have quality non-fiction that middle school students can choose from and even enjoy.
August 6, 2014
One of the best books I've read this year. Utterly captivating. I'm ashamed to admit I'm not real up on my world history, particularly this time period, or for that matter, Russia. I mean, Russia...
This book is three stories in one; first, an intimate look at the Romanovs themselves. Second, the story of the revolution that began with the workers' strikes of 1905 to Lenin's rise to power in 1917. And thirdly and the most heartbreaking part is the personal stories of the peasants, the men and women who struggled to survive in Russia and desperately wanted a better life. I'm now completely fascinated and obsessed with all things Romanov and the fall of Imperial Russia. Crazy shit y'all. CRAZY.
HIGHLY recommend this book, wonderfully done and incredibly well researched. I knew what was coming but I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Fleming does a tremendous job setting the scene and time period, I pictured everything and everyone like it was right in front of me, like a movie running in the background as I read.
This book is three stories in one; first, an intimate look at the Romanovs themselves. Second, the story of the revolution that began with the workers' strikes of 1905 to Lenin's rise to power in 1917. And thirdly and the most heartbreaking part is the personal stories of the peasants, the men and women who struggled to survive in Russia and desperately wanted a better life. I'm now completely fascinated and obsessed with all things Romanov and the fall of Imperial Russia. Crazy shit y'all. CRAZY.
HIGHLY recommend this book, wonderfully done and incredibly well researched. I knew what was coming but I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Fleming does a tremendous job setting the scene and time period, I pictured everything and everyone like it was right in front of me, like a movie running in the background as I read.
December 27, 2017
I didn’t realize this was a YA history book when I checked the ebook out from the library. But I don’t regret reading it. I’ve read things about that time period before, but not focused on the Romanovs, so it was a good introduction. The writing was accessible and had good flow. The author really brought the family to life. The author also did a good job of showing the overall political atmosphere of Russia and the Soviet takeover.
It’s a sad part of history. Nicholas wasn’t a very good leader. I wouldn’t say that’s entirely his fault—he didn’t receive very good training because his father didn’t like him and didn’t bother to give him any experience. So the Tsar and other Russian nobles held balls wearing costumes covered in gems, and the vast majority of Russians barely got enough to eat (or didn’t get enough to eat and died). Russian soldiers went off to fight the Great War without proper equipment—not enough artillery, enough rifles, enough socks, or enough overcoats. Nope, Nicholas wasn’t a very good ruler.
Nicholas was, however, a decent father. Not perfect—he and his wife were overindulgent with their children. But there was love in that family, and it’s tragic that their lives all ended in a cellar in Ekaterinburg. It’s incredibly unjust that the children were murdered. The girls (ages 17 to 22) hadn’t done anything to merit execution. The poor things seemed nice, if spoiled. They were so bored in their confinement that they happily took lessons on laundry and baking bread, and gladly pitched in when the housecleaners arrived. I think they could have adjusted to a normal life (where they weren’t royalty and had to work) if they’d been allowed to live. And then poor 13-year old Alexei. The heir was so sick from hemophilia that he couldn’t even walk. Hardly a threat to the Communist regime. Did Nicholas deserve to lose power? I would say yes. Did he and his family deserve execution? I would say no. The Communists should have exiled them, just like Nicholas exiled so many. And what did the footman, cook, maid, and doctor do to deserve death?
But what’s really sad about the death of the Romanovs is that nothing got better for the Russian people. They still starved. They still had few freedoms. They were still rounded up and shipped to Siberia or slaughtered in mass numbers. Their soldiers went into the next war without enough rifles. And they were still ruled with an iron fist.
4.5 stars, rounding up.
It’s a sad part of history. Nicholas wasn’t a very good leader. I wouldn’t say that’s entirely his fault—he didn’t receive very good training because his father didn’t like him and didn’t bother to give him any experience. So the Tsar and other Russian nobles held balls wearing costumes covered in gems, and the vast majority of Russians barely got enough to eat (or didn’t get enough to eat and died). Russian soldiers went off to fight the Great War without proper equipment—not enough artillery, enough rifles, enough socks, or enough overcoats. Nope, Nicholas wasn’t a very good ruler.
Nicholas was, however, a decent father. Not perfect—he and his wife were overindulgent with their children. But there was love in that family, and it’s tragic that their lives all ended in a cellar in Ekaterinburg. It’s incredibly unjust that the children were murdered. The girls (ages 17 to 22) hadn’t done anything to merit execution. The poor things seemed nice, if spoiled. They were so bored in their confinement that they happily took lessons on laundry and baking bread, and gladly pitched in when the housecleaners arrived. I think they could have adjusted to a normal life (where they weren’t royalty and had to work) if they’d been allowed to live. And then poor 13-year old Alexei. The heir was so sick from hemophilia that he couldn’t even walk. Hardly a threat to the Communist regime. Did Nicholas deserve to lose power? I would say yes. Did he and his family deserve execution? I would say no. The Communists should have exiled them, just like Nicholas exiled so many. And what did the footman, cook, maid, and doctor do to deserve death?
But what’s really sad about the death of the Romanovs is that nothing got better for the Russian people. They still starved. They still had few freedoms. They were still rounded up and shipped to Siberia or slaughtered in mass numbers. Their soldiers went into the next war without enough rifles. And they were still ruled with an iron fist.
4.5 stars, rounding up.
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