Rating: 
Summary: very readable account of the life of the last Tsar
Review: Massie's work is very readable; more like a novel than a biography. There were times I couldn't believe some of the intimate details could be real, for how would Massie know? But at the back of the book he has extensive notes indicating the sources for all the details including diaries and memoirs. I thought Massie did an excellent job illustrating the roots of World War I, especially the relationship between Nicholas and Kaiser William II. Also excellent was the way he makes the enigma of Rasputin understandable and how he reconciles the public disfavor and lack of understanding of the tsar and his wife with their noble intentions with the good of Russia in mind. In reading history it is easy to imagine that the participants were ignorant or oblivious to larger trends that would envelop them, especially in light of subsequent historical events. Massie's story brilliantly sheds light on the story of the last tsar such that the reader can genuinely understand the motivations of most of the participants. Very enlightening reading. I strongly recommend the book for anyone interested in Russian history or just looking for a readable story.
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Summary: History that reads like exciting fiction
Review: The story of the last of the Romanovs is one that still keeps audiences interested, whether the focus is the revolution or the Mad Monk. This is the last gasp of old style royalty that the 20th Century was to experience and despite Massie's tendency to somewhat romanticize his subjects, the domestic tribulations of Nicholas and Alexandra make an interesting and illustrative foil for the civil strife that was going on outside the palace. It is fascinating to read some of the anecdotes recounted in this book that show the Tsar and his family to be, in many ways, an ordinary family, yet at the same time probably the wealththiest family in the world at the time. The dispair and extreme poverty of Russian peasantry is very lightly treated here, but then, this is the Romanov's story and like royalty everywhere and at all times, they were isolated from direct confrontation with unpleasant sights and sounds.Whatever else, this is a great story - of love, family tragedy, political blundering, inepept military decisions, court intrigue, conspicuous consumption, religious meddling, hypocracy, self deception, and hope - all part of the opening act of the new century. The old world of Tsarist glitter passes and the new world of Bolshevik drabness begins - and Nicholas and Alexandra are, with their family, caught in the middle.
Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely Amazing
Review: An excellent book about the story behind the Romanov family. It is very descriptive. It is a must read.
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Summary: This is the book that got me interested in the Romanovs
Review: I first read this book many years ago. Mr. Massie manages to bring Nicholas, Alexandra, their family, and court back to life. The book reads almost like a novel at times and is very hard to put down. The author tells a very vivid story of a very tragic couple and their family, and the time in which they lived. The author is able to help the reader understand the series of events that lead to the fall of the monarchy and the murder of the royal family.
Rating:
Summary: A well researched, informative and entertaining peice!
Review: First reccomended to me by a Professor of mine, Massie's work reveals all the intimate details and crucial historical story lines that even a novice of the Russian Revolutionary history would grasp to understand the life of the last Imperial Highnesses. From the infamous Bloody Sunday to the love letters that were exchanged between Nicholas and Alexandra the book was clearly exhaustively researched and also gives a touch of real emotion which is magnafied by the authors own personal experiences with the terrible disease of hemophelia. Grandoise as this story is it might well have been fiction, tragically it is not! As sad as the historical truths presented in the pages are, Massie writes words that flow and are easy to understand. I would reccomend this book for anyone looking for a story so incredible and emotionally raw that it had to be true or to anyone who wants to make some sense out of the mysticism of this part of intriging Russian history.
Rating:
Summary: A Majestic Work of History
Review: "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!
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Summary: A wonderful book
Review: The story of Nicholas and Alexandra the last Tsar And Tsarina of Russia is one of the most Tragic love stories the world has ever known. Their glorious begining and their horrifying end, still continues to facinate thousands of people today. This book is like a journey back through time, taking you directly into the world of the Russian Imperial family. It's actually like you are living their lives day by day.
Massie has done a wonderful job in depicting the life of Nicholas and Alexandra. The books text is well researched and easy to read. You can breeze from chapter to chapter with complete understanding of what you have read. The text is also well balanced between political aspects of their life as well as personal aspects. Some romanov books are way to political and deal to much with the difficulties concerning government in Russia. The book stays on task and makes you want to keep reading.
I could honestly not put the book down, it's really that good. It's so rich and well written. The only part of the book that can be misleading is the final chapter, when the family is actually executed. But that can be forgiven for when this book was originally written there was not alot of information avalible concerning their death. Massie makes up for this in his book THE ROMANOVS: THE FINAL CHAPTER, which is another must read. No Romanov library is complete without this book. to read it is to grasp a better understanding of Nicholas and Alexandra.
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Summary: The best of all Romanov Books
Review: This book seems to be the basis of every Romanov book that has been published since it first came out, it is much more based on solid history, than the rumors that seem to make up the basis of every other book.Although the ending may be perceived inacurate by some, I think that for the most part it is largly true. Before reading any other book on the Romanovs definatly start with this one.
Rating:
Summary: A Novel History
Review: Personal Background & Questions: After joining the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church in the mid 1990's & marring a Russian wife in the late 1990's, I needed to read a good informative biography about the last Czar Nicholas Romanov II to find out what historically happen to answer a few questions: Was Moscow the third Rome (a Christian Empire guarding the Christian Orthodox Faith: Rome fell in 410, Constantinople in 1453, & Moscow in 1917)? How did the Russian Empire fall? Is a Christian Theocracy still possible? Is Czar Nicholas II a Saint, was he an untrained prince turned single focus Tsar, or "Bloodly" Nicholas? Who was Rusputin? Was he a hedonistic heretic, a persecuted Staret, or a doubled face sinner/saint? Commentary: After finishing "Nicholas and Alexandra" by Robert K. Massie, most of these questions go unanswered, but at least my options are clarified. The book is very well written for easy reading, almost too well written...in some areas it reads like a novel: over detaining certain information that may not be historical fact. This Novel-ling of history deals mostly with the main characters: what they wear, what facial features or expressions they had. The words that may or may not of been spoken are colored with emotion which adds to the story, but is it history? Lets look at historical biographies this way:
First, you have a biography that is a history book. It lists just the facts; this can be rather boring to read.
Second, there are books like "Nicholas and Alexandra" that add a little favor to soften the read, or to act out the history.
Third, there are books like "I Claudius" by Robert Graves that are fictional autobiographies: fictional writings with historical facts intertwined. Only you the reader know what type of books you may enjoy, or what you really what from a book. If you want to read a good story & get some history, then this may fit your fancy.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent and warm, with human feeling
Review: I first read this book many years ago. Since that time, it has always been a favorite of mine. Massie does an excellent job of portraying the vast sweep of Russian and world events, and against it, the very intimate and human world of the Tsar and Tsarina; Nicholas and Alexandra come across as kind, decent people who simply are incapable of coping with the events they are handed. In particular, Massie does an excellent job of showing how the hemophilia of Alexis, added on top of everything else, was the straw that broke the camel's back. This book is wonderfully written and evocative, and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone as a starting point to learn about the last Russian tsar.
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