Rating: 
Summary: Sad end of a kind man
Review: Why go for fiction when you can get a riveting true story like what happened to the Romanovs? The book starts with Nicholas' unexpected coronation as Tsar in 1894, and slowly but surely the story unfolds towards the gruesome end 25 years later. The saddening thing about this episode in history is that despite Rasputin, despite the heir Alexis with his hemophilia, despite the Empress' foilies, I left the book believing that the Tsar and his whole family got killed because he was just too kind and humble to make the tough decisions that Russia required during those turbulent times. If you consider Stalin, a cynic may argue that evil pays.
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Summary: Eloquent
Review: Quite simply, this is my all-time favorite book. I've worn out three copies over the last decade. Massie description of St.Petersburg bring Imperial Russia to life. AWESOME!!!!!!!!
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Summary: A true masterpiece...
Review: I started a love affair with European royalty while in junior high, and as luck or fate would have it, Robert Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra was published during this time. I was bitten by the Romanov bug and have suffered from this malady ever since.
Nicholas and Alexandra, the last Tsar and Tsarina of Imperial Russia, came from a distinguished royal pedigree. Nicholas was the son of Tsar Alexander III, and his aunt was Princess Alexandra of Wales. Alexandra was a Hessian princess and granddaughter of Queen Victoria. As youngsters, they fell in love and "Nicky" knew that "Alix" was fated to be his bride. Theirs was a true love match at a time when royal marriages were arranged for any reason but love.
Two events conspired to cause the Romanov tragedy. First, Nicholas was not a very strong-willed man. He let others dominate him (including his wife). When his father died suddenly at the age of 49, the young Nicholas was totally unprepared and untrained to be Ruler of all the Russia's. Second, Nicholas and Alexandra were very family oriented, and it was a crushing blow when their 5th child and only son was born with hemophilia. In desperation, they alienated much of Russia (to protect this secret) and fell under the harmful influence of Rasputin. Russia was ripe for revolution, and Nicholas and Alexandra were too blind to see what was happening in their own country until it was too late.
Massie does a stellar job of bringing Russian history to life in a way that reads like a novel. He also writes with a passion born of experience. When his son was born with hemophilia, Massie started researching how hemophilia affected the royal houses of Europe-especially the Romanov's. He details not just Russian history, but the history of this dreaded disease including various types of hemophilia, treatments, new advances, etc. The only negative about this book is in the timing. Massie wrote what was known in the late 1960's. But since the fall of communism and perestroika, we now know so much more about what happened to the Imperial family. Massie took this new information and finished the story in The Romanov's: The Final Chapter. One book should not be read without the other.
Nicholas and Alexandra is one of my favorite nonfiction books, and I find myself rereading it every five to six years or so. I enjoy it just as much with each subsequent reading. My original paperback was in such tatters that I finally treated myself to a new hardback copy. Even after all these years, the tragic fate of the Romanov's continues to haunt us.
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Summary: fabulous book!
Review: I love it when non-fiction books explores the "personal" aspects of historical events.
I minored in Russian History in college and recieved this book as a gift and love love loved it!
The life and eventual downfall of the last Tsar and his family was endearing in the details-- not necessarily the overall history. A great example would be the fact that on the eve of the Russian Revolution three of the five royal children came down with the measles; of course she was a little preoccupied!
Massie is an expert at blending primary historical texts (a lot of it is from the diary of the children's Swiss tutor Gillard) and his own words which makes the narrive flow much more gently than your average non-fiction historical book.
What I think is the most interesting thing Massie points out, at great length, is that Nicholas II and Alexandra were two people who did not possess any more or less basic human flaws than the average person, but the introduction of Hemophilia into their family completely (and understandably) threw their private and public lives into a complete kilter.
If you are not a fan of history or even Russian history I would still recommend this book, wonderfully written and researched about one of the most important events in the twentieth century!
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Summary: If all history was written this well...
Review: My wife dragged me to an exhibit at the Santa Fe Art Museum of items belonging to Nicholas and Alexandra. I knew nothing about the two, and saw little in the exhibit that further piqued my interest. But, on the way out, I did pick up a book on Rasputin as a souvenir. I started to read the Rasputin book, but then realized I could not appreciate Rasputin without first knowing the greater story of Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra. After researching what would be the best book to read, I got R. Massie?s Nicholas and Alexandra.
My oh my, what a fascinating read that has turned out to be. The high stars given by most other reviewers on this site are well deserved and on the money. Massie creates a captivating story in the process of describing a critical time in 20th Century history. I read it with the relish and enthusiasm of a richly embroidered page-turner. I normally do not read a lot of history. But if all history was written as well as this, I?d probably read so much of it that I?d scarcely have time to read anything else. I can?t wait to find other works that are as rich, informative, and entertaining as Massey?s Nicholas and Alexandra.
Rating:
Summary: Sad end of a kind man
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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