- Paperback: 448 pages
- Publisher: Basic Books (Jan 12 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0465024637
- ISBN-13: 978-0465024636
- Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 13.4 x 3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 454 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #434,670 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
This history examines the Romanov dynasty as it careened into the 20th century, taking a healthy chunk of Russian tradition and society along with it. Perry, who teaches at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and Pleshakov, director of the Geopolitics and Pacific Studies Center at the Soviet Academy of Sciences, make no bones about placing blame for the Russian Revolution squarely on Romanov shoulders: "The failure of the Romanov will and ability to lead caused many millions to die and shattered a brilliant culture." From the assassination of Czar Alexander II in 1881 to the adventures and misfortunes of the Romanov ?migr?s, the authors make every effort to view historical events from a personal vantage. Even those well-versed in Russian history will find this a refreshing treatment of events, fleshed out by oral histories of royal family members, experts, eyewitnesses and literary accounts by the likes of Bakunin, Bulgakov, Lermontov, Dostoyevski and Chekhov. The Russian public's lack of confidence in Nicholas II is described in gory detail, as is the first family's brutal extinction (the grand duchesses had to be finished off with bayonets because bullets ricocheted off diamonds sewn in their garments). Remarkably, this saga manages to keep its focus on the Romanov family without becoming distracted by the dramatic tales of Rasputin, Lenin, Stalin or other well-documented figures. The result is a compelling treatise on how royal power literally played itself out of modern Russia. 40 b&w photos. (July)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
This latest addition to the expanding library of works on the Romanovs begins its "saga" with the murder of Alexander II in 1881, then offers a quick survey of the imperial clan as it hurtled toward disaster in 1917. This is largely a tale of privileged parasites. Seventeen members of the family escaped from revolutionary Russia, and we learn details of their lives in exile. With few exceptions (Grand Duchess Olga), they had no survival skills; they offered nothing other than charm and the faded glamour of their name, which were enough to attract quite a few. Perry (Fletcher Sch. of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts Univ.) and Pleshakov (Soviet Academy of Sciences) amplify some of the details presented in Robert Massie's The Romanovs: The Final Chapter (LJ 10/15/95); their book reads like an interesting museum catalog of a deservedly vanished species. For all public libraries.ARobert H. Johnston, McMaster Univ., Hamilton, Ontario
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
AT 1:45 ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH 1, 1881, Alexis a soldier of the Pavlovsky Regiment who was guarding the squat regimental barracks facing Aptekarsky Lane in St. Petersburg, heard an explosion from the direction of nearby Ekaterininsky Canal. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
AT 1:45 ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH 1, 1881, Alexis a soldier of the Pavlovsky Regiment who was guarding the squat regimental barracks facing Aptekarsky Lane in St. Petersburg, heard an explosion from the direction of nearby Ekaterininsky Canal. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Flight of Good Scholarship,
By
This review is from: The Flight Of the Romanovs a Family Saga (Paperback)
This is one of the few negative reviews I've written and I'm sorry to say I think this book is sorely lacking in historical discipline and style! Well, not everyone is a William Manchester. Had I not been so fascinated with the Romanovs, I would never have finished this book. For one thing, it is very negative toward the Romanovs, in many ways slamming them in thinly veiled ways. For example, Nikolasha is called great "for a Romanov". Nicholas II's sisters Xenia and Olga are invidiously compared because Xenia chose to stay under the protection of the British monarchs while Olga went on to live a rather wretched life in Canada. The authors feel Olga was more honest. In fact, this book even goes out of the way to slam Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth II of England. Most people who read a book like this are supportive of Royals and I think would find the author's tone a bit difficult. I agree that the family tree at the front of the book is very helpful. I also found that it enabled me to get clear about the three branches of the family with claimants to the throne. The authors end by heaping praise on a very peripheral member of the Romanov family who rode daredevil motorcycle for a living. Especially for historians, these two men are quite shallow in their presentation of historical material about the war, the revolution and more. There is a lot of attention devoted to the murder of Rasputin and I did find this helpful. All I can say about this book in general, though, is, "I don't get it and you shouldn't either!" Sorry for such a negative review.
4.0 out of 5 stars
The first detailed account of the surviving Romanovs.,
By
This review is from: The Flight Of the Romanovs a Family Saga (Paperback)
This book first gives you background on life before 1917 then sweeps you through the Revolution and finally lets you discover what life was like for the surviving Romanov's after the Revolution. Nikolasha's exile in France where he was several times nearlly kidnapped by bolsheviks and was viewed by most as the family's true leader. Cyril and Ducky's self advertizement (appointing themselves sovereigns in exile and going so far as to handout titles to others) and eventual support of the rising Nazi Party. Maria Feodorova's bitter exile in Denmark where she fled after being sent away from Britain. Olga's life as a farmer's wife in Ontario. Xenia's days in a grace and favor house in Britain. Another cousin's life as a nun in Jerusalem. Dimitry's relationship with designer Coco Chanel (he helped inspire the famous perfume Chanel #5) and later failed marriage to an American heiress. His sister Marie's failure as a designer and ultimate success as a writer and public speaker. Prince Yusupov's callous self-aggrandizing behavior as he lived off the notoriety gained by murdering Rasputin. On the whole a worthy addition to the Romanov lovers library.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Romanov's didn't all die with Nicholas & Alexandra,
By
This review is from: The Flight Of the Romanovs a Family Saga (Paperback)
While most people consider the story of the Romanov's ended in the basement of the Ipateiv house on July 17, 1918, this wonderful description of the flight and plight of other members of the Romanov family held my attention continously. Unfortantely, because of my lack of familiarity of the uncles, aunts, cousins, children, grandparents, etc., etc., I kept returning to the concise family tree. The authors show a wide variety of activities of these relatives before and after the revolution and convey how some were "hanger-ons" and lived the life of royalty, while others kept the dream alive of returning to a czarist Russia. But all in all, I thoroughly enjoyed learning of the after affects of being driven out of Russia.
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