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Summary: The very human side of Nicholas and Alexandra
Review: "Bloody Nicholas". "Alexandra the German". These and other epithets were used to descibe Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra, the last Tsar and Tsarina of Imperial Russia. However, Massie brings to light and to life, the personal, human side of both Nicholas and Alexandra and their families. With unusual and fascinating insight, the lives of Nicholas and Alexandra are explored in the context of their backgrounds, upbringings, experiences, and the very public role which birth had conferred upon them. The impact these influences had upon them personally and the resulting impact upon Russian and world history is laid out in a poignant, tragic tale which will leave only the most jaded reader unmoved. Massie's writing style makes you feel as if you were actually there listening to and observing the Imperial family. His sources include the letters between Nicholas and Alexandra, letters from them to members of their families, and the memoirs of people who knew them personally and/or worked with them closely, such as tutors, close friends, ambassadors, and government officials. The insights gleened from these sources portray not vicious, callous rulers concerned only with their selfish ends, but rather two well-meaning and personally kind people whose personalities, education and limited perspectives ill-suited them for the roles into which they were born. Add to this the impact of the then untreatable disease of hemophilia which afflicted their youngest child, their only son and heir to the Russian throne. This does not excuse them from the disastrous role they played in the fall of the Romanov dynasty, but rather helps us to understand why they acted as they did. One cannot read this work and come away without a profound feeling of sadness. The "what if's" string on endlessly, most tragically in the contemplation of their five innocent, young children who were brutally murdered along with their parents by the Bolsheviks because of hatred for their parents, and a merciless political desire to ensure the monarchy never returned. This work will appeal to many: to students of Russia, history, royalty, political science, public relations, and of course, those interested in a story of romance in a privileged, elite world.
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Summary: Start with this work...
Review: Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra is THE definitive work on the last royal couple of Russia. Set against the golden (or, rather, thinly gilt) age of late-19th century imperial Europe, historical figures become flesh-and-blood in Massie's deft hands.
If you've never read anything about the last Romanovs, this is the book to read. Heck, even if you don't want to know about the last Romanovs, this book is a great read. Like a novel, Massie spins the tale of the Romanovs with mastery. I couldn't give this work a higher recommendation.
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Summary: Not just for history buffs
Review: Wonderful, enthralling account of the last days of tsarist Russia. Robert Massie shows how the parental anguish over their son and heir's hemophilia, hidden away from public knowledge, helped bring down an empire as Alexandra turned to the mad monk Rasputin first to save the czarevitch's life and then to save Russia. Interwoven are absorbing descriptions of the social, cultural and political life of the country as well as finely drawn character descriptions of the Russian royal family and their relationships with each other. This comes across as a totally human, heartbreaking story with an inevitable end. You don't have to be Russian or royal to identify with the characters, but you will learn a lot of history painlessly while rapidly turning pages.
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Summary: Extremely well-written, but sad story
Review: Robert Massie is a very gifted writer, and this book about the last czar and czarina of Russia reads a lot like a novel. This book is very engaging, and a reader will find it hard to stop reading. It becomes so apparent that Nicholas was absolutely the wrong person at the wrong time, and Massie is very adept at showing why this misguided ruler was undone by a violent revolution. One can easily notice that Massie is sympathetic to his subjects, and has a slight bias against the revolutionaries such as Lenin and Trotsky who ultimately had him killed. Overall, this book does a fantastic job of keeping a reader's interest, and is lushly provided with flowing descriptions of life for all of the people of Russia and the growing revolution that would undo the reign of one of Europe's oldest monarchies.
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Summary: A wonderful historical tale
Review: This was a highly enjoyable book. It takes you a while to read, but it's worth all the time you put into it. If you like learning about history but you don't want to read something as boring as a textbook, then read this. It is historical and yet it is written as a story about a family in a time of troubles. I highly reccomend this book.
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Summary: A great Romanov book
Review: Romanov.... that is a very powerful name... and yet, it is just a name, you were either born with it or you weren't... but for the simple fact of bearing this name, many people had to die... and yet it is just a name. It is a name that says POWER, LOVE, INTRIGUE, MYSTERY, ESCAPE, TRAGEDY.... but it is also a name that for Nicholas, Alexandra, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei meant FAMILY, and as a family they stuck together, through illness, war, infamy, and even death.
This book tells an incredible love story, that could beat any novel out there, and proves that life is always more mysterious, magical but also more cruel than fiction. It portrays the Romanovs as a family, and gives you an insight on their lives, their thoughts, their letters, their friends and their sufferings. It also lets you take a peek at Tsarist Russia, its power, its magic, its fancies, its relations with other empires, and many other things.
Robert Massie is an expert on this subject, and you can see that a lot of research went into creating this book.
I gave it 4 stars and not 5 because it is a bit outdated when it comes to the finding and retreaval of the bodies, but this is covered in a latter book by the same author.
Highly recommended, especially is you like history.
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Summary: IN addition
Review: I just wanted to add to my previous review that Massie is a master at storytelling. The emotional abdication, the fear yet courage the Romanovs displayed during their captivity, Massie easily transports the reader back to Ekaterinburg on that fateful day. One wonders whether a time machine does exist, such skill that Massie has in related the final moments of the Romanovs as if he were actually there. Full praise for a great biographer!
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Summary: Fascinating look at a bygone era.
Review: This is generally considered to be the definitive biography of Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra. Massie's expert storytelling is well-suited to the compelling story of the last Russian tsar and his consort. The history of Russia was no doubt changed by the deliberate myopia and general inadquacies of these two people. Nevertheless, Massie manages to uncover a more sympathetic side to the ill-fated duo. Massie's writing is as good as that of any acclaimed novelist - there's a fascinating and fastpaced plot, finely nuanced lead characters, an intriguing supporting cast, all against a beautiful background of a majestic bygone era. This book was researched and written before the fall of the Soviet empire when the state archives were opened and new information about the Romanovs was revealed. Consequently, this book is necessarily incomplete, especially as concerns the execution of the royal family. Massie has since written another text called "The Romanovs: The Last Chapter" which devels deeply into the newly available data and the forensic studies that followed. Consider it an essential volume II to "Nicholas and Alexandra".
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Summary: Excellent to the max.
Review: Robert Massie is an excellent writer who produced and excellent story of this period in history. One should read "Stalin" by Edvard Radzinsky before they read "Nicholas and Alexandra." You will see what Lenin did to Russia. I do recommend this book highly; it will fill you with respect for the Imperial Russia; enlighten you; and the end will make tears come to your eyes. A very good book. Jimmy
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Summary: only wish there were more like it
Review: Amazing book! I have so much empathy for the Russian people now. I only wish there were more books like it, either on Russia, or any other country. Parts of this book were stunningly shocking, anything about Rasputin for example. The author did an incredible job of giving a fair account of all that happened to bring down the autocracy in Russia. I had heard all of the rumors regarding Anastasia before, but now feel I have the final word on all of it. There is no way she could have lived through it - read it for yourself, you won't be dissapointed. A long read, but I am slow and even I got through it.
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