Romanov Autumn: Stories from the Last Century of Imperial Russia

by Charlotte Zeepvat

The Romanov dynasty ruled Russia for a little over 300 years. The story of the dynasty's dramatic end has exerted a lasting fascination. This book seeks to widen the picture, looking at the lives of members of the family during the last century of imperial rule, and setting this into the context of the grand palaces in which they lived. It was a time of contrasts, a period in which the Tsars reached the peak of their wealth, prestige and power, yet also faced the growth of forces which would destroy them. In 1817, 100 years before the Revolution, the first Nicholas and Alexander were married in the Winter Palace. This book tells their story, and the stories of their successors, Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II, each trying to steer their own course. It also looks at the lives of their sisters and brothers, and other members of the large Russian royal family, detailing their daily lives.

Genres: History, Russia, Nonfiction, Russian History, Royalty, Romanovs, Biography

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Charlotte studied medieval and modern history at Birmingham University and completed an MA thesis which explored the curious links between diplomacy, espionage and art collecting in the mid-seventeenth century.

Charlotte's writing career began in 1991 with Royal Digest (a magazine to which she was principal contributor throughout its 14-year existence before moving on to its successor, Royalty Digest Quarterly). Her books have included a biography of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany and two books on the Russian imperial family. The lastest is 'Before Action: William Noel Hodgson and the 9th Devons - A Story of the Great War'.

Other areas in which Charlotte has an interest are miniature painting and model making, the literature of the First World War and the history of portraiture. Royal photography is another specialist area and Charlotte has a large collection of original photographs currently represented by the Illustrated London News Picture Library and the Mary Evans Picture Library.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very hard to find, and usually beyond expensive. But worth every penny. It is divided into chapters that describe well-known Romanovs, little known-Romanovs, events (there's one on the engagement of Nicholas II and Alexandra) and palaces (the chapter on Gatchina made me want to visit the palace in Russia, which was fantastic!). Basically small biographies that have not been done by anyone else, on people/places that are very difficult to gather information about. There are also great photographs and pictures, and a series of family trees.

I really can't say how much I love this book - of everything on the Romanovs I own, this is probably my favourite.

[Zosi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful little jewel of a book. People have talked about this before but it’s hard to find and often expensive-and completely worth it. Zeepvat writes with a very human touch and the stories she tells are enthralling.

[Rebecca Huston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A look at some of the more unknown members of the Romanov family, and the stories of their marriages, heartbreaks and the eventual destruction of the dynasty. Well written, and managed to keep my interest all the way through.

For the more complete review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/review/Romano...

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the fact I abhor all they stood for: autocracy, anti-semitism, denying civil liberties, education, freedom and assistance to the vast population of their subjects and so many other detestable things about them, I still feel sorry for the whole lot of them.

Many Romanov’s were completely innocent and certainly did not deserve their terrible fate as were the Tsar’s children. The Konstantinovichi were hit terribly hard by the Bolsheviks, despite upholding old-fashioned values until the very end. They suffered the same fate as the worst of the Romanov’s, maybe an even more terrible fate.

This book is filled with humanizing, interesting stories about the Romanov family in the last century of their rule. These people were born into the pinnacle of society and as such, inherited both the privilege and the calumny that went with it. They are a fascinating bunch, for sure.

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its format took a while to get used to. It's amazing how confused I got with who's who (the similar names especially of the bride converts) and with when's what. The most useful things to me was the family tree, although its lay-out got me cross-eyed one too many times; and the index.

Story-wise, I enjoyed the glimpses into the humans that made up the Romanov house. Celebrities and royals can be so easily placed on a pedestal, and I appreciated that Ms. Zeepvat chose stories that brought them closer to us.

The book didn't go too much into the last Emperor's family. I was especially looking forward to reading about the sisters. The photo of them in nurses' uniforms was intriguing. Didn't they also keep diaries like Alexei did?

I read this very leisurely taking several months. The world really drew me in, and hours would be spent reading around the web about the family member I was reading. I enjoyed it enough to recommend the book if you're interesting in royal families.

[Ali Ameri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Romanov autumn is full of beautiful stories about the Romanov tsars and dukes. It also contains detailed descriptions of some famous palaces that belonged to them. Although well written with interesting anecdotes, the book is wholly devoted to the positive aspects of the dynasty and almost completely omitted the many atrocities made by them to the common people. For example the book fails to mention the famine of 1891 in which many thousands perished, the pogroms and Russification that affected the minorities in the time of the third Alexander and the execution of dissents during 1904 to 1907 in which almost 3000 people were perished. The tsars and the dukes were all involved in those atrocities and their hands were all stained by the blood of the many innocent people. However, as I’ve already mentioned, the book is completely focused on the romantic and civil side of the dynasty and fails to mention their despotic side.

[Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really fabulous and concise book that benefits greatly from the format that focusses on one person, event, or location per chapter. Very accessible, though some sentences might need to be reread as there are quite a few commas. Work on the earlier Tsars and the first Nicholas and Alexandra especially shone through. Fantastic referencing too, so bonus point there :) Definitely recommend to anyone new or familiar with the topic.

[Tracey Terrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sad look at the last 100 years of the imperial family. Just reading what they went through brought tears to my eyes

[Johannes · Rating 4 out of 5]

For ages I've been trying to get my hands on this book but given how expensive, and difficult to find it is nowadays, I got defeated by reality for quite a long time until I was able to borrow it. And I can tell how happy this made me.

Now, on the book, it is not necessarily order in a cronological order nor did I mind it, it was set in stages, like microworlds for this court, and lost country had them too. Some of the info I already know, and I did learn much more. I was truly amazed, however by her approach to Alexandra Feodorovna, née Princess Alix from Hesse-Darmstadt and Rhein; most writers cannot find any saving grace in her, and with good reasons for even her maternal traits got to drown her own children from time to time, and this was recorded in their diaries but Zeepvat tried, it seems, to find some things that would make her look good, and avoid thorny subjects to achieve it. And she did, and though I don't share her views it was a nice change for even after more than one century after her demise, she is a complicated character if there ever was one.

[Ali Ameri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Romanov autumn is full of beautiful stories about the Romanov tsars and dukes. It also contains detailed descriptions of some famous palaces that belonged to them. Although well written with interesting anecdotes, the book is wholly devoted to the positive aspects of the dynasty and almost completely omitted the many atrocities made by them to the common people. For example the book fails to mention the famine of 1891 in which many thousands perished, the pogroms and Russification that affected the minorities in the time of the third Alexander and the execution of dissents during 1904 to 1907 in which almost 3000 people were perished. The tsars and the dukes were all involved in those atrocities and their hands were all stained by the blood of the many innocent people. However, as I’ve already mentioned, the book is completely focused on the romantic and civil side of the dynasty and fails to mention their despotic side.

[Katie Diaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't always like reading history books with short stories on different subjects, particularly when I've read so much about the subject in question, like the Romanov's.

This book was great though. She did a great job with the histories she decided to focus on and how she inter-weaved them. I've read a lot about the Romanov's, but she did her research on other, lesser-written about family members, and it really broadened the view on things that were long-known.

I really loved her style of writing, and made the book easy to read without it being dumbed-down.

[Vigee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a lovely book with unfamiliar stories about "other" Romanovs that serve to really flesh out that whole lost world of enormous privilege. I was completely drawn in, and this is one of my favourites on shelves groaning with books on the Romanovs.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book - which led me a merry chase trying to find in a not uber-expensive edition - I always enjoy Charlotte Zeepvat and it is a wonderful book about many of the Romanov family.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and well written but just not for me.

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romanov Autumn is a hodge podge of Romanov essays written by Charlotte Zeepvat, the eminent Romanov family writer. It covers the basic topics such as the passing of Dagmar from Nikolai to Alexander, Nicholas and Alexandra's engagement, and the tsarevich, but it is unique in its coverage of the history of the various palaces and locales of the Romanovs and the fascinating life stories of some of the more minor royals. The oft-ignored Alexei Alexandrovich is interestingly pictured in this book, as is the Prince Ioann and his wife, along with her thrilling escape from the new USSR after being at Alapaevsk with her husband. In addition, the Yurievskys, for the first time that I've seen, are described her after Alexander II died, going as far as into the 20s and 30s with their lives. This extremely interesting collection is coupled with rarely seen photographs of the family.