The Fall of the Romanovs: Political Dreams and Personal Struggles in a Time of Revolution [Paperback]

He has accomplished a much needed task for those of us who value scholarship not sensationalism. And the effort is a much needed addition to any Romanov library. My edition has so many dog-earred pages and has been so used that the spine is lovingly weakened from use.

I shall buy another.

The book is introduced as an unbiased analysis of the downfall of the tsar and his family. However, it is easy to tell that in many aspects the author discusses the family as the good guys and throws a dark shadow over the people who held them captive and later killed them. In many aspects the author analyzes situations and the outcome turns into the portrayal of the family as harmless victims to uncontrollable change in society. The author supported his analysis with a huge number of primary sources, which made it very hard to look upon the royal family as bloody rulers. Nevertheless, it was interesting how very little wrong doings of the family were thrown into the primary documents. The author does a very good job portraying his points through his analysis and backing it all up with sufficient documents and evidence.

The Fall of the Romanovs was published in 1995. It is a very recent book, which means that the author had access to never before seen archives made available to all only in the early 80s. I don't believe the book has a specific intended audience, however, I think anyone who finds the Russian revolution intriguing will find this book very interesting and informative. The book, with many new resources behind it, is able to address many aspects of the treatment of the Romanovs during their imprisonment and issues concerning their imprisonment and execution. In my opinion, the appeal to the reader and the analysis of issues brought up in the book are superbly accomplished throughout the text. With the incessant evidence and extremely organized structure, the book is a great read.

The overall purpose of the text is the layout of analysis and evidence in such a way as to allow the reader to see the story exactly as it is and be able to make their own conclusions. The author does a good job of laying out very accurate analysis backed up with great primary documents. Very organized, is the main style of the book. Every situation is correlated with a primary document towards the end of the chapter that gives the reader great insight. Photos and personal letters involving the Romanovs do a tremendous job portraying the royal family as not only rulers but also as a real family with real values. Everything is extremely relevant and makes the text very easy to read and understand.

This book definitely helped me understand one of the many aspects of the Russian Revolution a lot better. I know feel that I have a great deal more insight into the family that was probably most affected during this whole ordeal. The author does a great job explaining the importance of the personal characteristics of the tsar and his family as to why they were pushed out of power and came to such a tragic end. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is studying the Russian revolution. Also, this book is just a great read for those who enjoy informative texts with a plot. The authors writing techniques, the historical importance of the events, as well as the numerous pieces of first hand evidence, make this a great informative read.