Rating: 
Summary: A fascinating book!
Review: Anna Anderson, as portrayed in Lovell's book, is like a character from ALICE IN WONDERLAND by way of Ekaterinburg. He presents this mysterious, maddening, and enigmatic woman with sensitivity and compassion. Many questions remain about Anna Anderson, even though DNA testing has shown she was probably a Polish peasant. Lovell recounts her intimate knowledge of the Russian Imperial court, her knowledge of details only Anastasia would know (as evidenced by questions from those who knew the Grand Duchess), and the fact that her handwriting was an exact match to Anastasia's handwriting--only a few of the many fascinating similarities between Anna Anderson and Anastasia.
Rating:
Summary: The Lost Princess Who Was Found...
Review: Astounding! Whether the true story of the Last Grand Duchess Anastsia, or yet the account of a very confused woman who only believed to be her, Anna Anderson is sure to show us all the epitome of courage. It's the tale of a woman not only surviving life's challenges, but beginning a whole new life for herself as an adult. The whole story is simply amazing, it true or not. I, myself, even with the DNA test and the so called "facts" that Anastasia, Grand Duchess of Russia died in the cellar with her family in the early morning of July 17, 1917, I still can not make myself believe this woman was definitely not the Grand Duchess. I have studied the Romanovs for many years now, and can still not come to conclude this was an ordinary woman on the streets. You can tell the face of old Anna Anderson in her hospital bed is the same face of youthful, seventeen year old Anastasia. That proves more than scientific study, which is not always is correct. You can't help but believe in her after reading this book. The way it is written is in such a tribute to the Grand Duchess herself, respecting her in everyway. Lovell is an astonishing author, more than I ever would have expected. The first pages immediately draw you into the world of the Romanovs, as a brillant page turner. From the days the family stayed captive at Exaterinburg, to Anna Anderson's healing in the German wards, to the old woman you grow to care about in Unterlengenhardt, you will not be able to put this book down. What proves to be even more grasping is the odd little-known facts it tells of the Romanovs, whether they are real or yet just a heap of rumors. I must admit, it went on quite a bit about Ms. de Graff at the end, almost too much, when Anna Anderson's days where over. Yet despite this is it a truly a splendid novel, engaging and sympatheic for a rare, strong person only looking for acceptance, but more important looking to accept herself. This is the story of a lost princess who really wasn't lost at all.
Rating:
Summary: The Lost Princess Who Was Found...
Review: Astounding! Whether the true story of the Last Grand Duchess Anastsia, or yet the account of a very confused woman who only believed to be her, Anna Anderson is sure to show us all the epitome of courage. It's the tale of a woman not only surviving life's challenges, but beginning a whole new life for herself as an adult. The whole story is simply amazing, it true or not. I, myself, even with the DNA test and the so called "facts" that Anastasia, Grand Duchess of Russia died in the cellar with her family in the early morning of July 17, 1917, I still can not make myself believe this woman was definitely not the Grand Duchess. I have studied the Romanovs for many years now, and can still not come to conclude this was an ordinary woman on the streets. You can tell the face of old Anna Anderson in her hospital bed is the same face of youthful, seventeen year old Anastasia. That proves more than scientific study, which is not always is correct. You can't help but believe in her after reading this book. The way it is written is in such a tribute to the Grand Duchess herself, respecting her in everyway. Lovell is an astonishing author, more than I ever would have expected. The first pages immediately draw you into the world of the Romanovs, as a brillant page turner. From the days the family stayed captive at Exaterinburg, to Anna Anderson's healing in the German wards, to the old woman you grow to care about in Unterlengenhardt, you will not be able to put this book down. What proves to be even more grasping is the odd little-known facts it tells of the Romanovs, whether they are real or yet just a heap of rumors. I must admit, it went on quite a bit about Ms. de Graff at the end, almost too much, when Anna Anderson's days where over. Yet despite this is it a truly a splendid novel, engaging and sympatheic for a rare, strong person only looking for acceptance, but more important looking to accept herself. This is the story of a lost princess who really wasn't lost at all.
Rating: 
Summary: Historical Fairytale, Who Knows!
Review: Every little girl and teenager who is and was a history
lover can not help but be drawn in by the tale of the
youngest Grand Duchess and her possible escape. Lovell
however, tends to ramble in his book, when he could have
gotten to the point much quicker. He portrays her
as a semi nut case who went through so much trama she could
barely remember to brush her hair let alone her name.
DNA has supposedly proven that she was a polish factory
worker but there are still too many unanswered questions for
romantics like me to be satisfied. Why did the autopsy on
Anna Anderson reveal she had a child but the polish factory
worker never did? Did the autopsy also show the extensive
bone damage to her face as a young girl? How can you get a
scar exactly like that of a Russian bayonet in a explosion? (What are the odds) How come on Olga's death bed in Canada she
keep repeating, "my niece, what have I done to my niece".
All I know is DNA can say what ever I want it to, if it is my
lab and under my control. If everyone is so positive that
all were killed in the cellar why won't they allow
DNA testing and comparisons on the remains of others claiming
to be Romanovs, like Heino Tamov and his family.
With the laws in Russia as they are, they have a lot to lose.
If someone could prove they were a from the family of the
last CZAR then they have to give everything they confiscated
back. Pretty scary for them.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent and moving.
Review: I just finished, (02/12/00), I found it an outstanding personal journey throughout the Romanovs. Fully documented, it doesn't present any statement without a second or third part comprobation. The author travelled the whole world around during years to make more and more comprobations. If he already died, (as I read here),I really envy him: he had an amazing, intense live.
Rating:
Summary: Review For "Anastasia :The Lost Princess"
Review: It's quite hilarious, what people will believe. I do not see why people contradict the DNA evidence and the fact that Anna Anderson didn't look at all like the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna. It's quite pathetic, this woman, a psychopath who grew into her role as the "lost grand duchess". There needs to be a better memoriam to the girl, not the crazy woman who said she was she. It's absolutely laughable, all the things he says in this book. It reads more like a tabloid, what with a secret fifth daughter and all this other junk.
Rating: 
Summary: Amusing...
Review: It's quite hilarious, what people will believe. I do not see why people contradict the DNA evidence and the fact that Anna Anderson didn't look at all like the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna. It's quite pathetic, this woman, a psychopath who grew into her role as the "lost grand duchess". There needs to be a better memoriam to the girl, not the crazy woman who said she was she. It's absolutely laughable, all the things he says in this book. It reads more like a tabloid, what with a secret fifth daughter and all this other junk.
Rating:
Summary: Review For "Anastasia :The Lost Princess"
Review: Lovell must of had the best intentions, but this book is a supporter for the impostor. Anna Anderson Manahan was not the Grand Duchess, she was Franzika Shankowvska of Poland. HIH Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikoaievna died with her family in Siberia. DNA testing has proven that Anastasia Manahan aka Anna Anderson was not Anastasia but Franzika, but Lovell refused to exept this fact. I think the fact that she originally thought she was Grand Duchess Tatiana was a clue and that she could not speak Russian becouse Anastasia Romanov spoke it about 99.9% of the time. Lovell had a gullible brain as Anna's was deranged and a criminal. This book is a disgrace to modern science.
Rating:
Summary: Historical Fairytale, Who Knows!
Review: Mr. Lovell's story of Anna Anderson and her claims to be a Romanov sound outlandish on its face, but he backs up his claims with alot of convincing evidence. He'll make a believer out of anyone. This is a must read for all interested in the fate of the Romanovs.
Rating:
Summary: A hatchet job on Anastasia.
Review: Once upon a time, circa 1982, DNA was not known of, and Mrs John Manahan, the former Anna Anderson, lived in Charlottesville, Virginia and claimed to be [and probably was] Her Imperial Highness, Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia. She had had her claim re-inforced first by the Mangold and Summers book, "File on the Tsar", and then by Peter Kurth's beautifully written, carefully researched, definitive, if you like, study of her life. Then it rained on Mrs Manahan's parade and it rained really hard and the very worst of the rain makers was a man called James Blair Lovell. Read on! It's hard to know where to begin on this tome! There appears not to have been an editor in sight either. It's a shameful attempt to cash in on Mrs Manahan's tragedy [and tragedy is not too strong a word] as well as attempting to drive a wedge into the group of kind folk who had helped Mrs Manahan in Europe in her attempts [almost successful - too] to gain recognition as Grand Duchess Anastasia. This book, [as so typical with amateur writers], is so over written that it becomes very tiresome very quickly. Would it be too disgustingly awful of me to say that the late Mr Lovell appears to have been jealous of Peter Kurth's fine work and definitive study of Mrs Manahan? Anyone whom Peter Kurth has good to say about, i.e., Prince Frederick of Saxe-Altenberg, Ian Lilburn and the good and kind ladies in Unterlengenhardt, have their reputations flayed from them by Lovell. It doesn't make pleasant reading. Lovell has no ability to relate historic facts to his own day-to-day conception of Mrs Manahan's life. I'm not talking [not yet, anyway] about historic intrigues in Imperial Russia, just facts like mentioning 'airport security' at Frankfurt in July 1968! There was no such thing in July 1968 - there weren't jumbo jets in those days, nor terrorist hi-jackings - Mrs Manahan could have walked onto the plane for Charlottesville carrying a Kalashnikov and twenty-five rounds of ammunition and no-one would have turned a hair. There was far more 'security' at the "St Petersburg Opera House" which, from it's description, I take to mean the Mariinski Theatre. Lovell tells us a little fable of fiction about an American lady being offered chocolates by the historical Anastasia at a concert there, as they shared the ledge of a box. This is impossible to do at the Mariinski Theatre. You cannot see into the imperial boxes from the ones next to them, never mind have a conversation with one of the occupants. The very idea of Grand Duchess Anastasia being unattended in a theatre box, watched by two thirds of the auditorium, wolfing down chocolates, while at the same time singing a song left me reeling. It is these two incidents in the book that finished Lovell's credibility for me. Elsewhere in the book he compares Mrs Manahan with a Miss Haversham - did he mean Miss Havisham who appears in Dickens's "Great Expectations"? As I said, not an editor in sight. How any serious researcher could have possibly taken the fifth daughter of the Tsar seriously beggars belief. You don't get rubbish like this in Peter Kurth's book. Kurth has the ability not only to write well, but he seems to know what was 'true' testimony and what was 'false' and it is this very sifting of the facts that makes his book so wonderful. Why anyone who claims to have known and like Mrs Manahan, as Lovell does, indeed, claim, could want to attempt to undermine Kurth's fine work is quite beyond me. There will be many people who wonder what all the fuss is about, in the light of the DNA results, but if Mrs Manahan was an imposter she was, evidentially, at least, a very lucky one. Poor Mrs Manahan: To have gotten so far - only to have a hatchet job done her by someone she supposedly trusted. This book shed little new light on it's subject but told me a great deal [too much, in fact] about it's author and I drew my own conclusions.
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