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The Romanov Sisters #1
Ekaterinburg
On July 4, 1918, a new commandant took control of a closely guarded house in the Russian town of Ekaterinburg. His name was Yakov Yurovsky, and his prisoners were the Imperial family: the former Tsar Nicholas, his wife Alexandra and their children, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexey. Thirteen days later, at Yurovsky's command, and on direct orders from Moscow, the family was gunned down in a blaze of bullets in a basement room.
This is the story of those murders, which ended 300 years of Romanov rule and set their stamp on an era of state-orchestrated terror and brutal repression.
Ekaterinburg: The Last Days of the Romanovs counts down to the last , tense hours of the family's lives, stripping away the over-romanticised versions of previous accounts. The story focuses on the family inside the Ipatiev House, capturing the oppressive atmosphere and the dynamics of a group - the Romanovs, their servants and guards - thrown together by extraordinary events.
Marshalling overlooked evidence from key witnesses such as the British consul to Ekaterinburg Sir Thomas Preston, British and American travellers in Siberia and the now-forgotten American journalist Herman Bernstein, Helen Rappaport gives a brilliant account of the political forces swirling through the remote Urals town. She conveys the tension of the watching world: the Kaiser of Germany and George V, King of England - both, like Alexandra, grandchildren of Queen Victoria - their nations locked in combat as the first world war drew to its bitter end. And she draws on recent releases from the Russian archives to challenge the view that the deaths were a unilateral act by a maverick group of the Ekaterinburg Bolsheviks, identifying a chain of command that stretches directly, she believes, to Moscow - and to Lenin himself.
Telling the story in a compellingly new and dramatic way, Ekaterinburg brings those final tragic days vividly alive against the backdrop of Russia in turmoil, on the brink of a devastating civil war.
This is the story of those murders, which ended 300 years of Romanov rule and set their stamp on an era of state-orchestrated terror and brutal repression.
Ekaterinburg: The Last Days of the Romanovs counts down to the last , tense hours of the family's lives, stripping away the over-romanticised versions of previous accounts. The story focuses on the family inside the Ipatiev House, capturing the oppressive atmosphere and the dynamics of a group - the Romanovs, their servants and guards - thrown together by extraordinary events.
Marshalling overlooked evidence from key witnesses such as the British consul to Ekaterinburg Sir Thomas Preston, British and American travellers in Siberia and the now-forgotten American journalist Herman Bernstein, Helen Rappaport gives a brilliant account of the political forces swirling through the remote Urals town. She conveys the tension of the watching world: the Kaiser of Germany and George V, King of England - both, like Alexandra, grandchildren of Queen Victoria - their nations locked in combat as the first world war drew to its bitter end. And she draws on recent releases from the Russian archives to challenge the view that the deaths were a unilateral act by a maverick group of the Ekaterinburg Bolsheviks, identifying a chain of command that stretches directly, she believes, to Moscow - and to Lenin himself.
Telling the story in a compellingly new and dramatic way, Ekaterinburg brings those final tragic days vividly alive against the backdrop of Russia in turmoil, on the brink of a devastating civil war.
254 pages, Hardcover
First published February 3, 2009
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About the author
Helen Rappaport
28 books853 followersHelen Rappaport is a historian specialising in the Victorian period, with a particular interest in Queen Victoria and the Jamaican healer and caregiver, Mary Seacole. She also has written extensively on late Imperial Russia, the 1917 Revolution and the Romanov family. Her love of all things Victorian springs from her childhood growing up near the River Medway where Charles Dickens lived and worked. Her passion for Russian came from a Russian Special Studies BA degree course at Leeds University. In 2017 she was awarded an honorary D.Litt by Leeds for her services to history. She is also a member of the Royal Historical Society, the Genealogical Society, the Society of Authors and the Victorian Society. She lives in the West Country, and has an enduring love of the English countryside and the Jurassic Coast, but her ancestral roots are in the Orkneys and Shetlands from where she is descended on her father's side. She likes to think she has Viking blood.
Helen is the author of 14 published books with 2 forthcoming in 2022:
"In Search of Mary Seacole: The Making of a Cultural Icon" - Simon & Schuster UK, 17 February 2022
"After the Romanovs: Russian Exiles in Paris through Revolution and War" - St Martin's Press USA, 8 March 2022
For her next project she is working on a biography of Juliane of Saxe-Coburg aka Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna of Russia
Follow her also on Facebook at:
HelenRappaportWriter
Helen is the author of 14 published books with 2 forthcoming in 2022:
"In Search of Mary Seacole: The Making of a Cultural Icon" - Simon & Schuster UK, 17 February 2022
"After the Romanovs: Russian Exiles in Paris through Revolution and War" - St Martin's Press USA, 8 March 2022
For her next project she is working on a biography of Juliane of Saxe-Coburg aka Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna of Russia
Follow her also on Facebook at:
HelenRappaportWriter
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 491 reviews
May 24, 2019
“Yurovksy, having finished reading the decree, pulled out his Colt, stepped forward and shot the Tsar at point-blank range in the chest. Ermakov, Kudrin and Medvedev, not to be outdone and wanting their moment of personal revenge and glory too, immediately took aim and fired at Nicholas as well, followed by most of the others, propelling an arc of blood and tissue over his terrified son behind him.
For a moment the Tsar’s body quivered on the spot, his eyes fixated and wide, his chest cavities, ripped open by bullets, now frothing with oxygenated blood, his heart speeding up, all in a vain attempt to pump blood round his traumatized body. Then he quietly crumpled to the floor.
But at least Nicholas was spared the sight of seeing what happened to his wife and family…”
- Helen Rappaport, The Last Days of the Romanovs
This is a species of horror story where you know the ending in advance of cracking the front cover. Before you read the first word on the first page, you know that it will end in a claustrophobic basement room, choked with smoke and the metallic scent of blood, with bodies – including children – riddled with bullets.
Helen Rappaport’s The Last Days of the Romanovs is a slim volume recounting – in strict narrative fashion – the final anxious hours of the Romanov dynasty, from the time they arrived in Ekaterinburg, to the moment they were walked to the basement of the utterly-Soviet-named House of Special Purpose.
It ends badly for the Romanovs, for Nicholas II and his beloved family. It ends in such a way that you’ll start to wonder – if you haven’t already – why 20th Century Fox ever felt it appropriate to spin a motion picture with talking animals out of this gory massacre.
Each of the sixteen chapters in The Last Days of The Romanovs (there is also a brief introduction and epilogue) covers a day, or span of days, in the fast-fading lives of ex-Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, their hemophiliac son Alexei, and their four young daughters. Intermingled with a claustrophobic and personality-based retelling of those fraught days – balanced upon the edge of the unknown; cut off from the outside world; waiting for a rescue that never seriously materialized – are mini-biographies of the all the Romanovs, as well as some of their captors/tormentors.
As I mentioned above, Rappaport chooses to tell her story purely as a narrative. This is not an academic or scholarly work. The deaths of the Romanovs is a historical incident that is tangled in countless controversies, myths, speculations, lies, and half-truths. Rappaport, however, has made her own study of it, and seamlessly presents her version of events. This makes for easy reading. Rather than stutter, stop, and restart in order to quibble with every different variation, Rappaport can focus on the personalities, the atmosphere, the slow and inexorable tightening of the noose.
Of course, as Rappaport acknowledges in an afterword, this involves a great deal of subjective interpretation. Based on her reputation, she is entitled to this, and to some extent, all historians and writers are subjective in their staging. Still, I disagree with Rappaport’s decision to not provide footnotes or endnotes. She’s not the only popular-historian/author to do this, and their excuse is always the same: they don’t want to clutter the tale. But that’s just laziness. Annotated endnotes can be used without any kind of notation in the body of the text. The general reader can absorb the story without the “distraction” of tiny numbers at the end of sentences; the more interested reader can turn to the back for citations and further discussion.
This isn’t really a criticism, because again, I understand her purpose: to grip the reader and not let go. To that end, this book is extremely effective and well-paced and imbued with Rappaport’s empathy for her subjects.
As tightly as The Last Days of the Romanovs is constructed, it is inevitable that you lose a lot of context. This is not through any fault of Rappaport, of course. She did not set out to tell the whole crazy/sad tale of the Romanovs and the Russian Revolution. With that said, I often find that certain books work better when you go into it with a bit of an overarching framework in you mind. The murder of the Romanovs was not an execution but a shocking act of bestial savagery. But it also took place within a hugely complicated environment.
Rappaport definitely feels a great deal of emotion for the Romanovs, and that is mostly for the good. Still, it elides a bit of the overall truth of the family. The Nicholas of The Last Days of the Romanovs is a quiet, humble, dignified man, who stoically and uncomplainingly accepts the slings and arrows of the Ural Soviet. His wife, Alexandra, is a sickly, pitiable woman, leeching energy and strength from her young daughters.
There is little indication of the weakness and paradoxical nature of the bumbling Nicholas II, which led him to both hate his job and to cling to its autocratic foundations until it was too late. He was a great family man, but also a rabid anti-Semite. He claimed to want nothing more than to be an English farmer, yet he did not believe in ceding anything to democracy, even when the clamor became deafening.
There is also little criticism of Alexandra, who attempted to wield power on Nicholas’s behalf while he was at Stavka, and heeded no advice save what came to her from incompetent sycophants. She was a loyal partner, but loyal to a fault, urging Nicholas II to double down on every mistake.
It is perhaps understandable that Rappaport shies away from sharp critiques of the Romanovs. After all, what came after them was far, far worse. For all Nicholas II’s mistakes, he didn’t indifferently condemn millions to death by starvation like Stalin, and he didn’t fetishize the firing squad like Lenin.
In a way, the destruction of the Romanov family, and especially the children – Alexei, Olga, Tatiana, Marie, and Anastasia – symbolizes the blind indifference to humanity exhibited by the Bolsheviks as they clawed their way to power. This was not a necessary act. It was an act of violence for the sake of violence. The men who carried it out were drunks, criminals, psychopaths. They did not wade in the blood of the Romanovs for the good of mankind; they did not fondle the body of the dead tsarina in support of the proletariat. They did these things because the opportunity arose for them to act on their darkest impulses.
I strongly recommend reading this in conjunction with Rappaport’s The Romanov Sisters, which breathes individual life into Olga, Tatiana, Marie, and Anastasia, four young women who are often lumped together by historians. Taking these two books back-to-back provides a full and powerful reading experience that left me bereft for this flawed, doomed family.
Nicholas and Alexander had their chances, made their mistakes, and paid the ultimate price. The children, though, were simply caught up in the maelstrom, like so many others of their countrymen and women. To look at their pictures is to feel the chill of a ghost brushing your arm. Theirs are the faces – young, attractive, frozen unaware in black-and-white portraits – of a calamity that defies human understanding. They somehow stand for the millions who died in the sad agony of Russia’s convulsion, and the millions more who were to die in years to come.
For a moment the Tsar’s body quivered on the spot, his eyes fixated and wide, his chest cavities, ripped open by bullets, now frothing with oxygenated blood, his heart speeding up, all in a vain attempt to pump blood round his traumatized body. Then he quietly crumpled to the floor.
But at least Nicholas was spared the sight of seeing what happened to his wife and family…”
- Helen Rappaport, The Last Days of the Romanovs
This is a species of horror story where you know the ending in advance of cracking the front cover. Before you read the first word on the first page, you know that it will end in a claustrophobic basement room, choked with smoke and the metallic scent of blood, with bodies – including children – riddled with bullets.
Helen Rappaport’s The Last Days of the Romanovs is a slim volume recounting – in strict narrative fashion – the final anxious hours of the Romanov dynasty, from the time they arrived in Ekaterinburg, to the moment they were walked to the basement of the utterly-Soviet-named House of Special Purpose.
It ends badly for the Romanovs, for Nicholas II and his beloved family. It ends in such a way that you’ll start to wonder – if you haven’t already – why 20th Century Fox ever felt it appropriate to spin a motion picture with talking animals out of this gory massacre.
Each of the sixteen chapters in The Last Days of The Romanovs (there is also a brief introduction and epilogue) covers a day, or span of days, in the fast-fading lives of ex-Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, their hemophiliac son Alexei, and their four young daughters. Intermingled with a claustrophobic and personality-based retelling of those fraught days – balanced upon the edge of the unknown; cut off from the outside world; waiting for a rescue that never seriously materialized – are mini-biographies of the all the Romanovs, as well as some of their captors/tormentors.
As I mentioned above, Rappaport chooses to tell her story purely as a narrative. This is not an academic or scholarly work. The deaths of the Romanovs is a historical incident that is tangled in countless controversies, myths, speculations, lies, and half-truths. Rappaport, however, has made her own study of it, and seamlessly presents her version of events. This makes for easy reading. Rather than stutter, stop, and restart in order to quibble with every different variation, Rappaport can focus on the personalities, the atmosphere, the slow and inexorable tightening of the noose.
Of course, as Rappaport acknowledges in an afterword, this involves a great deal of subjective interpretation. Based on her reputation, she is entitled to this, and to some extent, all historians and writers are subjective in their staging. Still, I disagree with Rappaport’s decision to not provide footnotes or endnotes. She’s not the only popular-historian/author to do this, and their excuse is always the same: they don’t want to clutter the tale. But that’s just laziness. Annotated endnotes can be used without any kind of notation in the body of the text. The general reader can absorb the story without the “distraction” of tiny numbers at the end of sentences; the more interested reader can turn to the back for citations and further discussion.
This isn’t really a criticism, because again, I understand her purpose: to grip the reader and not let go. To that end, this book is extremely effective and well-paced and imbued with Rappaport’s empathy for her subjects.
As tightly as The Last Days of the Romanovs is constructed, it is inevitable that you lose a lot of context. This is not through any fault of Rappaport, of course. She did not set out to tell the whole crazy/sad tale of the Romanovs and the Russian Revolution. With that said, I often find that certain books work better when you go into it with a bit of an overarching framework in you mind. The murder of the Romanovs was not an execution but a shocking act of bestial savagery. But it also took place within a hugely complicated environment.
Rappaport definitely feels a great deal of emotion for the Romanovs, and that is mostly for the good. Still, it elides a bit of the overall truth of the family. The Nicholas of The Last Days of the Romanovs is a quiet, humble, dignified man, who stoically and uncomplainingly accepts the slings and arrows of the Ural Soviet. His wife, Alexandra, is a sickly, pitiable woman, leeching energy and strength from her young daughters.
There is little indication of the weakness and paradoxical nature of the bumbling Nicholas II, which led him to both hate his job and to cling to its autocratic foundations until it was too late. He was a great family man, but also a rabid anti-Semite. He claimed to want nothing more than to be an English farmer, yet he did not believe in ceding anything to democracy, even when the clamor became deafening.
There is also little criticism of Alexandra, who attempted to wield power on Nicholas’s behalf while he was at Stavka, and heeded no advice save what came to her from incompetent sycophants. She was a loyal partner, but loyal to a fault, urging Nicholas II to double down on every mistake.
It is perhaps understandable that Rappaport shies away from sharp critiques of the Romanovs. After all, what came after them was far, far worse. For all Nicholas II’s mistakes, he didn’t indifferently condemn millions to death by starvation like Stalin, and he didn’t fetishize the firing squad like Lenin.
In a way, the destruction of the Romanov family, and especially the children – Alexei, Olga, Tatiana, Marie, and Anastasia – symbolizes the blind indifference to humanity exhibited by the Bolsheviks as they clawed their way to power. This was not a necessary act. It was an act of violence for the sake of violence. The men who carried it out were drunks, criminals, psychopaths. They did not wade in the blood of the Romanovs for the good of mankind; they did not fondle the body of the dead tsarina in support of the proletariat. They did these things because the opportunity arose for them to act on their darkest impulses.
I strongly recommend reading this in conjunction with Rappaport’s The Romanov Sisters, which breathes individual life into Olga, Tatiana, Marie, and Anastasia, four young women who are often lumped together by historians. Taking these two books back-to-back provides a full and powerful reading experience that left me bereft for this flawed, doomed family.
Nicholas and Alexander had their chances, made their mistakes, and paid the ultimate price. The children, though, were simply caught up in the maelstrom, like so many others of their countrymen and women. To look at their pictures is to feel the chill of a ghost brushing your arm. Theirs are the faces – young, attractive, frozen unaware in black-and-white portraits – of a calamity that defies human understanding. They somehow stand for the millions who died in the sad agony of Russia’s convulsion, and the millions more who were to die in years to come.
June 10, 2016
One more fascinating historical book about the Romanovs and a close look to their last days, their killers and the legacy of the stunning famous family. I wrote more about them in my review of The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra
"The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg" is a sad, touching book with an emotional end. There was only one member of the family left, waiting for them to return, but it didn't happen.
The cruelty of the massacre and the brutality of the plan how to hide the bodies, still make me shudder.
"The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg" is a sad, touching book with an emotional end. There was only one member of the family left, waiting for them to return, but it didn't happen.
The cruelty of the massacre and the brutality of the plan how to hide the bodies, still make me shudder.
March 2, 2020
Um livro que recomendo a todos. A violência desenfreada, a violência sob qualquer forma nunca pode ser a solução.
April 13, 2020
First it's just sad, then it's straight up brutal. I prefer Rappaport's "The Romanov Sisters", but this is a great book as well, if you can handle it because some of this is actually hard to read (not because of the writing, but because of what's written). Would definitely recommend to anyone interested in this part of history.
September 11, 2025
A very readable book on Russian history. I been fascinated with the last Russian czar & his family lately. I would say this book kind of ‘quenched’ my thirst for historical facts & stories of the last Romanov dynasty. The book covers the life of Czar Nicholas II & his family from end of April to July 18, 1918, the date of the murders of the Romanovs. I enjoyed the Family Romanov by C. Flemming a little more simply because of different writing styles.
February 8, 2017
After finishing The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra, I picked up this book hoping for more insight into the family and their last days at Tobolsk and Ekaterinburg. This was a riveting historical account, more tightly paced than The Romanov Sisters.
I didn't care for the off-topic meandering in The Romanov Sisters; however, I felt like the broader historical information in this book was not only on point, but vitally necessary in order to show how the Romanovs were caught up in larger social and political forces sweeping Russia. Through a detailed exploration of the events leading up to the execution, the book shows why the Bolsheviks ultimately chose to murder the family and why the crowned heads of Europe--many of them close relatives of the Romanovs--failed to rescue them. I especially appreciated how much of the book focused on the political and symbolic significance of the city of Ekaterinburg.
In short, I would recommend this book over The Romanov Sisters to anyone interested in the Romanov family. This book includes detailed biographical information on each member of the family, as well as an exploration of the broader events of this time period. It is a tremendously moving, well-researched and well-written account of not only the Romanovs' last days, but also of this turbulent period in Russian history.
I didn't care for the off-topic meandering in The Romanov Sisters; however, I felt like the broader historical information in this book was not only on point, but vitally necessary in order to show how the Romanovs were caught up in larger social and political forces sweeping Russia. Through a detailed exploration of the events leading up to the execution, the book shows why the Bolsheviks ultimately chose to murder the family and why the crowned heads of Europe--many of them close relatives of the Romanovs--failed to rescue them. I especially appreciated how much of the book focused on the political and symbolic significance of the city of Ekaterinburg.
In short, I would recommend this book over The Romanov Sisters to anyone interested in the Romanov family. This book includes detailed biographical information on each member of the family, as well as an exploration of the broader events of this time period. It is a tremendously moving, well-researched and well-written account of not only the Romanovs' last days, but also of this turbulent period in Russian history.
December 17, 2019
I'm probably not being fair in giving this book 4 stars, but I can't help it. I am not being a misoginistic arsehole, it's just my frank opinion.
This has probably been the direct effect of the latest history book that I read, which is "The End" by Ian Kershaw. Now that's master-class retelling of some or other part of humanity's history. However, it's not just that particular work that influenced my view on the matter. By comparison, this seemed filled with pointless and rather boring opinions about the situation of the Romanovs from 1890 through to 17th of July, 1918.
Now, don't get me wrong. I fully enjoyed all the details and I found out things that I wouldn't have, had they not been presented here. What I'm pointing out is that I could sense it was written by a woman.
Hear me out: I don't want any sentiments in my history books. I want an author who, even if she's passionate about the subject and can rant about it for days, it won't show on paper. I want an objective speaker who doesn't interfere with my emotions or alters my feelings towards a certain event, but rather lets me decide how I feel about it after giving me all the details she could. Ekaterinburg is not one of those works. From the very first page, I felt like I was bullied into caring for the members of this famous family, (even their dogs), and despise their guardians and any other by-stander who allowed something like this to happen.
For the record, I do "care" about the Romanovs and I think the animals who did what they did are no better than scum for acting in such a way. That does not, anyhow, affect my opinion that it shouldn't be the author of this history book who presses me into thinking this way.
In the end, 4 stars. Filled with precious information about this illustrious family, it's a good read for anyone interested in the subject.
This has probably been the direct effect of the latest history book that I read, which is "The End" by Ian Kershaw. Now that's master-class retelling of some or other part of humanity's history. However, it's not just that particular work that influenced my view on the matter. By comparison, this seemed filled with pointless and rather boring opinions about the situation of the Romanovs from 1890 through to 17th of July, 1918.
Now, don't get me wrong. I fully enjoyed all the details and I found out things that I wouldn't have, had they not been presented here. What I'm pointing out is that I could sense it was written by a woman.
Hear me out: I don't want any sentiments in my history books. I want an author who, even if she's passionate about the subject and can rant about it for days, it won't show on paper. I want an objective speaker who doesn't interfere with my emotions or alters my feelings towards a certain event, but rather lets me decide how I feel about it after giving me all the details she could. Ekaterinburg is not one of those works. From the very first page, I felt like I was bullied into caring for the members of this famous family, (even their dogs), and despise their guardians and any other by-stander who allowed something like this to happen.
For the record, I do "care" about the Romanovs and I think the animals who did what they did are no better than scum for acting in such a way. That does not, anyhow, affect my opinion that it shouldn't be the author of this history book who presses me into thinking this way.
In the end, 4 stars. Filled with precious information about this illustrious family, it's a good read for anyone interested in the subject.
November 9, 2022
A Crime that Stains a Nation
I finally faced this book, which I knew would be bleak, poignant and difficult to comprehend. The murder of the father Tsar, his wife, five innocent children and their loyal servants. However, this was Russia and the world was entering one of its darkest periods in history.
The book is well written and moves at a great pace. It chilled my bones, pricked my neck hairs and thumped the heart as it heads through those fateful days in July 1917. The worst part is, there is no good to come, no one gets out, no one is saved and no one pays. With this I began to ponder, could they have been saved? How could it have been done? What chance did they have?
I found I couldn’t put this down and read it quickly, saying up to 2am to finish it. Sweating, holding my head in shame for the murders. But I had to face it, to understand Russia, you must read about what happened in ‘The House of Special Purpose’. A national must not forget and the world must remember. Lenin and the Bolsheviks were brutal, psychopathic criminals who had a complete lack of regard for human life. We must learn from history and prevent any ideological fanatics from stealing a country again and imposing their bloodlust onto a people.
Each chapter focuses on key dates in the lead up to the murder, but then provides keys background information and context. Who were the Tsar, his family and servants. Their personalities and how they had coped with their change in circumstances. What was going on in Moscow and in the minds of the guards, planning their crime. What the world thought and did anyone try to prevent it are all covered. I found this structure excellent. Overall I was impressed with the book and will read it again.
Remember the victims of Russian revolution, whatever their class. God Save the Tsar.
I finally faced this book, which I knew would be bleak, poignant and difficult to comprehend. The murder of the father Tsar, his wife, five innocent children and their loyal servants. However, this was Russia and the world was entering one of its darkest periods in history.
The book is well written and moves at a great pace. It chilled my bones, pricked my neck hairs and thumped the heart as it heads through those fateful days in July 1917. The worst part is, there is no good to come, no one gets out, no one is saved and no one pays. With this I began to ponder, could they have been saved? How could it have been done? What chance did they have?
I found I couldn’t put this down and read it quickly, saying up to 2am to finish it. Sweating, holding my head in shame for the murders. But I had to face it, to understand Russia, you must read about what happened in ‘The House of Special Purpose’. A national must not forget and the world must remember. Lenin and the Bolsheviks were brutal, psychopathic criminals who had a complete lack of regard for human life. We must learn from history and prevent any ideological fanatics from stealing a country again and imposing their bloodlust onto a people.
Each chapter focuses on key dates in the lead up to the murder, but then provides keys background information and context. Who were the Tsar, his family and servants. Their personalities and how they had coped with their change in circumstances. What was going on in Moscow and in the minds of the guards, planning their crime. What the world thought and did anyone try to prevent it are all covered. I found this structure excellent. Overall I was impressed with the book and will read it again.
Remember the victims of Russian revolution, whatever their class. God Save the Tsar.
July 8, 2021
Oh, where to begin? Where to begin? I bought this book in December 2012 while I was on an HPB run on lunch from a cataloging workshop. I wasn't expecting high scholarship, if only from the terrible cover. To the smart aleck saying not to judge books by their covers, let me take a second and tell you why this cover is worthy of judgment. It's anyone's guess why this woman decided to put a cover on said book featuring a red-tinted, badly-shopped image of the 1902 Rothschild egg over the 1914 Livadia portrait of the Imperial family. Please notice the idiotically superimposed Imperial eagle right over the cockerel's neck. The 'shop job is so bad that in person, you can see the pixels.
But I digress. Having very little expectation but willing to spend $2 to see what she had to say, I bought the book and read it as part of last year's alphabetical challenge. The back cover praises Rappaport for a fair and unbiased treatment of her subject matter, but as you can imagine, a woman with such credits as Lenin in Exile, Joseph Stalin: A Biographical Companion, and the Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers, she was about as balanced as a chocolate diet. Mostly all she does is use the word "hagiographer" incessantly and dedicate whole paragraphs to demeaning these supposed flattering biographers, whoever they are. Greg King (her obvious mentor and responsible for chunks of her ridiculous bibliography) praises her to the skies. All this told me that this "nonfiction" work was going to be this close to a waste of time.
But librarians read things that are wastes of time. Why? So you don't have to. Let me break down not only what made this book so terrible (or "what made me dislike it so much," if you're a stickler) but also why you shouldn't read it.
Go ahead, judge the book by its cover. Because this crudely podged together cover is a perfect summation of the slapped together idiocy that passes for the book's "scholarship." Frankly I don't think Rappaport could understand real scholarship if it hit her in the head. I mentioned her "bibliography" a second ago -- it doesn't even deserve the name. From misspelled names to flat-out incorrect titles, she makes every mistake in the book -- including the first mistake everyone makes in freshman composition, which is to split the bib into "primary" and "secondary" sources and then define "primary" as "stuff I used the most" and "secondary" for "stuff I didn't use that much." The sources she chose to use and the ones she decided to skip were also telling. For example, she didn't cite Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich's biography even though he was Nicholas' Favorite, his aide for many years, and also deeply involved in the murder of Rasputin. She also doesn't reference his sister's autobiography, the two-volume memoirs of Grand Duchess Marie. You might defend this by pointing out that this book focused on the "last days" of the Romanovs and neither of those two were around for that, but I would answer that 1) she spent so much time skipping through dates that their lack is conspicuous and odd, and 2) she referenced others who were just as little involved in the actual "last days." Paul Bulygin, for example, is an early witness but an unreliable one! Not to mention sources she must have used and didn't bother to put in the bib at all -- when I came across a quotation that I knew where she had gotten it, I found it impossible to find the citation in either her "primary" or her "secondary" sources. Oh, and by the way, I had to recall where the quotation came from because she never cited anything in the text.
Now, she wrote this book in a narrative style that jumps back and forth in the timeline, apparently just to give her enough words to pad out each chapter, and maybe for that reason she decided against using any kind of system whatsoever to identify quotations, paraphrases, or other references to information she didn't just make up off the top of her head. On the other hand, the advantage to reference-free writing is you can make up whatever you want off the top of your head and no one will know the difference. For example, if I subtly slipped into the next paragraph that she wrote extensively about the empress' pet green hippo, you'd have no way of knowing this wasn't true. Even if it sounds peculiar, you couldn't determine if I was lying without clapping hands on the document. Now imagine if I were discussing some 40 or 50 documents -- the only way you'd know I was talking crazy is 1) to sift through the dozens of documents yourself, or 2) know the subject well enough to know. In the meantime, plenty of ignorant readers who don't know or care to find out will blithely carry on the misinformation about a green hippo. And that's why it makes me angry.
Honestly, that sums up the gravest faults of the book and there's not much else to say. I suppose she thought she divided it cleverly: a chapter for each day of the final week, and each chapter/day being dedicated to one of the family, because, how creative, there's seven of them and seven days! But she followed nothing close to a timeline, starting with events in 1917 and then jumping around, back to Nicholas' childhood, forward to 1918, back to 1904, back again, forward, back . . . ! And outright mistakes aren't limited to the bibliography either. She couldn't get Michael Romanov's name or the details of his death right, and while the American President Wilson gets a page and a half of flowery, poetic description, Nicholas is repeatedly condemned for the apparent crime of not doing things Helen Rappaport and Greg King's way. Wilson wasn't the only random she jumped around to, either, and all these other unrelated individuals seemed to get more positive treatment than the Romanovs themselves -- especially poor Alexandra, whom she framed as a terrible wife and mother, a hypochondriac who drove her husband nearly insane, and also little Alexei, whom she basically denounced as a brat. Unable to conceive of a loving, tightly-knit Christian family, Rappaport depicts the Romanovs' final days as the torment of a fractured, fragmented group held together by nothing more than their captivity. Not only did she make me feel like they all welcomed death just to escape one another, she made me rather long for death as well! So much of this book is useless, unverifiable padding, and cruel fantasy (where the jabs at Nicholas and Alex's marriage are concerned). This book doesn't even deserve to be flung across the room, as Dorothy Parker would say -- don't even do it the honor of picking it up.
But I digress. Having very little expectation but willing to spend $2 to see what she had to say, I bought the book and read it as part of last year's alphabetical challenge. The back cover praises Rappaport for a fair and unbiased treatment of her subject matter, but as you can imagine, a woman with such credits as Lenin in Exile, Joseph Stalin: A Biographical Companion, and the Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers, she was about as balanced as a chocolate diet. Mostly all she does is use the word "hagiographer" incessantly and dedicate whole paragraphs to demeaning these supposed flattering biographers, whoever they are. Greg King (her obvious mentor and responsible for chunks of her ridiculous bibliography) praises her to the skies. All this told me that this "nonfiction" work was going to be this close to a waste of time.
But librarians read things that are wastes of time. Why? So you don't have to. Let me break down not only what made this book so terrible (or "what made me dislike it so much," if you're a stickler) but also why you shouldn't read it.
Go ahead, judge the book by its cover. Because this crudely podged together cover is a perfect summation of the slapped together idiocy that passes for the book's "scholarship." Frankly I don't think Rappaport could understand real scholarship if it hit her in the head. I mentioned her "bibliography" a second ago -- it doesn't even deserve the name. From misspelled names to flat-out incorrect titles, she makes every mistake in the book -- including the first mistake everyone makes in freshman composition, which is to split the bib into "primary" and "secondary" sources and then define "primary" as "stuff I used the most" and "secondary" for "stuff I didn't use that much." The sources she chose to use and the ones she decided to skip were also telling. For example, she didn't cite Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich's biography even though he was Nicholas' Favorite, his aide for many years, and also deeply involved in the murder of Rasputin. She also doesn't reference his sister's autobiography, the two-volume memoirs of Grand Duchess Marie. You might defend this by pointing out that this book focused on the "last days" of the Romanovs and neither of those two were around for that, but I would answer that 1) she spent so much time skipping through dates that their lack is conspicuous and odd, and 2) she referenced others who were just as little involved in the actual "last days." Paul Bulygin, for example, is an early witness but an unreliable one! Not to mention sources she must have used and didn't bother to put in the bib at all -- when I came across a quotation that I knew where she had gotten it, I found it impossible to find the citation in either her "primary" or her "secondary" sources. Oh, and by the way, I had to recall where the quotation came from because she never cited anything in the text.
Now, she wrote this book in a narrative style that jumps back and forth in the timeline, apparently just to give her enough words to pad out each chapter, and maybe for that reason she decided against using any kind of system whatsoever to identify quotations, paraphrases, or other references to information she didn't just make up off the top of her head. On the other hand, the advantage to reference-free writing is you can make up whatever you want off the top of your head and no one will know the difference. For example, if I subtly slipped into the next paragraph that she wrote extensively about the empress' pet green hippo, you'd have no way of knowing this wasn't true. Even if it sounds peculiar, you couldn't determine if I was lying without clapping hands on the document. Now imagine if I were discussing some 40 or 50 documents -- the only way you'd know I was talking crazy is 1) to sift through the dozens of documents yourself, or 2) know the subject well enough to know. In the meantime, plenty of ignorant readers who don't know or care to find out will blithely carry on the misinformation about a green hippo. And that's why it makes me angry.
Honestly, that sums up the gravest faults of the book and there's not much else to say. I suppose she thought she divided it cleverly: a chapter for each day of the final week, and each chapter/day being dedicated to one of the family, because, how creative, there's seven of them and seven days! But she followed nothing close to a timeline, starting with events in 1917 and then jumping around, back to Nicholas' childhood, forward to 1918, back to 1904, back again, forward, back . . . ! And outright mistakes aren't limited to the bibliography either. She couldn't get Michael Romanov's name or the details of his death right, and while the American President Wilson gets a page and a half of flowery, poetic description, Nicholas is repeatedly condemned for the apparent crime of not doing things Helen Rappaport and Greg King's way. Wilson wasn't the only random she jumped around to, either, and all these other unrelated individuals seemed to get more positive treatment than the Romanovs themselves -- especially poor Alexandra, whom she framed as a terrible wife and mother, a hypochondriac who drove her husband nearly insane, and also little Alexei, whom she basically denounced as a brat. Unable to conceive of a loving, tightly-knit Christian family, Rappaport depicts the Romanovs' final days as the torment of a fractured, fragmented group held together by nothing more than their captivity. Not only did she make me feel like they all welcomed death just to escape one another, she made me rather long for death as well! So much of this book is useless, unverifiable padding, and cruel fantasy (where the jabs at Nicholas and Alex's marriage are concerned). This book doesn't even deserve to be flung across the room, as Dorothy Parker would say -- don't even do it the honor of picking it up.
September 2, 2023
You know the ending before you start reading, which makes the horror even worse. An in-depth look at the daughters. looking forward to next book.
June 10, 2024
বইটাতে রাশিয়ার শেষ জার ও তার পরিবারের শেষ ১৪ দিনের জীবন যাপনের বর্ণনা রয়েছে। পড়তে গেলেই বুঝা যায় লেখক রোমানভ পরিবারের প্রতি খুবই সদয়। জার নিকোলাস ও তার স্ত্রী, পুত্র, কন্যাদের নিয়ে আলাদা করে ছোট ছোট করে লিখেছেন সেখানেও তাদের ভালো গুনগুলোই তুলে ধরেছেন।
বইয়ের শেষে গিয়ে যেখানে হত্যাকাণ্ডের বর্ণনা ও লাশগুলো কবর বলবো না লুকানোর জন্য যে কাজ করেছিল তা খুবই অমানবিক।
স্ট্যালিন রাশান জনগণের সাথে যা করেছে জার মনে হয় না তার থেকে বেশি অত্যাচার করতে পেরেছিলেন।
জার হিসেবে তিনি কেমন ছিলেন সেই আলাপে যাবো না তবে এই হত্যাকান্ড হৃদয়বিদারক।
বইয়ের শেষে গিয়ে যেখানে হত্যাকাণ্ডের বর্ণনা ও লাশগুলো কবর বলবো না লুকানোর জন্য যে কাজ করেছিল তা খুবই অমানবিক।
স্ট্যালিন রাশান জনগণের সাথে যা করেছে জার মনে হয় না তার থেকে বেশি অত্যাচার করতে পেরেছিলেন।
জার হিসেবে তিনি কেমন ছিলেন সেই আলাপে যাবো না তবে এই হত্যাকান্ড হৃদয়বিদারক।
April 13, 2010
I'm always disturbed at the romanticized and saccharined portrayal of the Romanov murders. It seems wrong to cannonize the dynasty that inflicted torture, exile, imprisonment, and death upon its people. Equally, in my mind, Nicholas II only received the same treatment he gave to many of his subjects...murder. Especially in Nicholas's case, I don't think the "calm, devoted family-man" image redeems his strictly autocratic and anti-Semitic rule as monarch. For a monarch to turn the other way while his subjects (85% of whom were peasants) starved or suffered from the "charming, Eastern-European tradition" of pogroms on its vast Jewish population.
That said, I find Rappaport's work to be very straight-forward...mentioning the good and bad aspects of both Nicholas and Lenin. I learned a lot more about the politics and warfare occuring during this era, as opposed to the melodramatic and almost-morbid fascination with the family's grotesque murder. I enjoyed, too, how Rappaport gives unbiased information on the Bolshevik executioners...not entirely condemning them, but not letting them off the hook, either.
Overall, a very informative read.
That said, I find Rappaport's work to be very straight-forward...mentioning the good and bad aspects of both Nicholas and Lenin. I learned a lot more about the politics and warfare occuring during this era, as opposed to the melodramatic and almost-morbid fascination with the family's grotesque murder. I enjoyed, too, how Rappaport gives unbiased information on the Bolshevik executioners...not entirely condemning them, but not letting them off the hook, either.
Overall, a very informative read.
July 1, 2017
A readable, fast-paced and interesting history of the Romanov family’s demise.
The narrative covers the family’s last two weeks at Ekaterinburg, as well as the tsar’s decision to abdicate and how the family got there. Rappaport also covers the interactions between the local soviet and the Moscow regime. The Soviet leadership, by then trying to crush the Whites, had basically lost interest in the family’s fate; they didn’t want the Whites to get anywhere near them, but that was about it. The decision to execute the family was made quickly and the communists quickly moved on after that (and rescuing the family was a low priority for the allies) Her treatment of Yurovsky is a bit more nuanced than usual.
The narrative is a bit repetitive, and there are no footnotes. The prose is a bit pedestrian at times. Also, like most books on the subject, the Romanov daughters are lumped together and we don’t really get to know them as individuals. Rappaport treats the czar with sympathy, although this seems a bit naive at times. But, in all, an intimate, well-written work.
The narrative covers the family’s last two weeks at Ekaterinburg, as well as the tsar’s decision to abdicate and how the family got there. Rappaport also covers the interactions between the local soviet and the Moscow regime. The Soviet leadership, by then trying to crush the Whites, had basically lost interest in the family’s fate; they didn’t want the Whites to get anywhere near them, but that was about it. The decision to execute the family was made quickly and the communists quickly moved on after that (and rescuing the family was a low priority for the allies) Her treatment of Yurovsky is a bit more nuanced than usual.
The narrative is a bit repetitive, and there are no footnotes. The prose is a bit pedestrian at times. Also, like most books on the subject, the Romanov daughters are lumped together and we don’t really get to know them as individuals. Rappaport treats the czar with sympathy, although this seems a bit naive at times. But, in all, an intimate, well-written work.
November 17, 2018
A minha “pancada” por certas figuras históricas continua. Desta vez a família Romanov, mais concretamente Nicolau II, o último czar e a sua família.
Não é preciso fazerem grandes pesquisas para saberem o triste fim que tiveram. A autora vai mais além disso. São retratadas motivações, esperanças, medos, ingenuidades, indiferenças. Excelente pesquisa. O livro tem bastante ritmo apesar do que é contado. É um livro de não ficção essencial para apreciadores da história dos Romanov.
Não é preciso fazerem grandes pesquisas para saberem o triste fim que tiveram. A autora vai mais além disso. São retratadas motivações, esperanças, medos, ingenuidades, indiferenças. Excelente pesquisa. O livro tem bastante ritmo apesar do que é contado. É um livro de não ficção essencial para apreciadores da história dos Romanov.
February 13, 2021
The author has now written several books on the final days of the Romanov family, the last royal Tsar of Russia before the 1917 Communist Revolution. This one is the shortest, and oldest, from about a dozen years ago, but I still think it is the best. The book focuses on the final few days of the Romanovs when they were under house arrest at the Ipatiev House in Ekatriburg in Siberia. The house was surrounded by a high wooden fence and closely guarded by partisan soldiers who became rougher and more extreme as the days wore on. When counter-Revolutionary forces approaced who might have rescued the family, Lenin and local Soviet leaders opted to execute the Romanovs by firing squad, killing not only the Tsar but also his hated wife who was German, and his 3 daughters, young invalid son, and some servants. They also killed other members of the extended Romanov family, so there was no chance of them being restored to the throne. The communist soldiers brutalized the bodies of the royal family, pounding them to pulp, cutting them with bayonets, dousing them with acid and burning them. First thrown into a shallow mine shaft they were then removed, brutalized some more and buried under a wooden road where they would lay for the 80 years until the remains were found and identified with DNA testing after the fall of the USSR in the 1990s and reinterred in a church.
What comes through in this book is Tsar Nicholas and his wife simply did a terrible job running Russia. The empire was already convulsing but the Tsar allowed his wife to wall him and his children totally off from the regular Russian people and that more than anything led to the family's overthrow and doom. When Russia faced setbacks in World War One, the Communists staged a revolution and forced the Tsar to abdicate. What is stunning is that a man so devoted to his family, apparently made no efforts to see his family was taken to safety before he abdicated and was put under house arrest. Even worse, once under house arrest, he apparently made no effort at all to save his children. He spent his days walking, reading, and actually sawing wood as his family suffered. As a father, I know I would have tried everything to save my children. The family had jewels secreted away, yet he made no effort to bribe his captors. Escape might have been hopeless but to have not even tried was sinful. Far better it would have been for the Tsar to be shot down trying to lead his children to safety then be gunned down not even trying. And it is hard, almost impossible to place much blame on the wife. She walled the Tsar and the children off, her imperialist attitude caused her to be hated by the people and her captors, and was a major contributor to the family's fall and killing.
Even with the passage of a century there can be no defense to the callous shooting of the children even if it can be argued the Tsar and his wife contributed much to their own fate. This book is almost a day by day, hour by hour account of the final days of the Tsar's family and while her other more recent books go into much more detail about the daughters (The Romanov Sisters) the failed and desultory efforts by other European monarchs to rescue the Romanovs (Race to Save the Romanovs) and conditions in the capital city (Petrograd) this book does the best job of explaining the last days of the royal family.
Its only shortcomings are a lack of photos of the basement room they were shot in, the graves and while the discovery of the remains is explained, there is very little information on the fascinating archeology of the discovery of the remains which can be found in other sources. I also found the author's seemingly thousand uses of the word "whilst" annoying; even for someone of British background the use of the word in the book is excessive! But a very good read that does a fine job of explaining this tragedy of history.
What comes through in this book is Tsar Nicholas and his wife simply did a terrible job running Russia. The empire was already convulsing but the Tsar allowed his wife to wall him and his children totally off from the regular Russian people and that more than anything led to the family's overthrow and doom. When Russia faced setbacks in World War One, the Communists staged a revolution and forced the Tsar to abdicate. What is stunning is that a man so devoted to his family, apparently made no efforts to see his family was taken to safety before he abdicated and was put under house arrest. Even worse, once under house arrest, he apparently made no effort at all to save his children. He spent his days walking, reading, and actually sawing wood as his family suffered. As a father, I know I would have tried everything to save my children. The family had jewels secreted away, yet he made no effort to bribe his captors. Escape might have been hopeless but to have not even tried was sinful. Far better it would have been for the Tsar to be shot down trying to lead his children to safety then be gunned down not even trying. And it is hard, almost impossible to place much blame on the wife. She walled the Tsar and the children off, her imperialist attitude caused her to be hated by the people and her captors, and was a major contributor to the family's fall and killing.
Even with the passage of a century there can be no defense to the callous shooting of the children even if it can be argued the Tsar and his wife contributed much to their own fate. This book is almost a day by day, hour by hour account of the final days of the Tsar's family and while her other more recent books go into much more detail about the daughters (The Romanov Sisters) the failed and desultory efforts by other European monarchs to rescue the Romanovs (Race to Save the Romanovs) and conditions in the capital city (Petrograd) this book does the best job of explaining the last days of the royal family.
Its only shortcomings are a lack of photos of the basement room they were shot in, the graves and while the discovery of the remains is explained, there is very little information on the fascinating archeology of the discovery of the remains which can be found in other sources. I also found the author's seemingly thousand uses of the word "whilst" annoying; even for someone of British background the use of the word in the book is excessive! But a very good read that does a fine job of explaining this tragedy of history.
October 23, 2021
3.25 stars
This book really does focus on the last two weeks of the lives of Tsar Nicholas II and his wife and children (4 daughters and 1 son) as they were imprisoned and later murdered. It does back up in time, though, to detail how they got where they were.
There was a lot more politics in the book than I’d expected, so that was not as interesting to me as the parts that did focus on the family itself. I will say, though, that this seemed really well researched, with a lot of primary sources being used, most notably (I think) writings by the last head guard of the Romanovs in Ekaterinburg (Yakov Yurovsky), who was also one of the main murderers. This book may have included the most detailed description of the murders themselves, likely due to the writings of Yurovsky.
This book really does focus on the last two weeks of the lives of Tsar Nicholas II and his wife and children (4 daughters and 1 son) as they were imprisoned and later murdered. It does back up in time, though, to detail how they got where they were.
There was a lot more politics in the book than I’d expected, so that was not as interesting to me as the parts that did focus on the family itself. I will say, though, that this seemed really well researched, with a lot of primary sources being used, most notably (I think) writings by the last head guard of the Romanovs in Ekaterinburg (Yakov Yurovsky), who was also one of the main murderers. This book may have included the most detailed description of the murders themselves, likely due to the writings of Yurovsky.
August 21, 2018
A visão que a autora nos traz neste livro é bastante diferente dos livros que tinha lido até então sobre a família Romanov, porque não se cinge a defender a família imperial e nem a criticar o comunismo. Ela expõe a verdade que conseguiu descortinar sem passar paninhos quentes a ninguém. É certo que nunca se vai saber exactamente o que aconteceu, porque muitos relatos eram aldrabados e a documentação também era tendenciosa. Mas neste livro senti que tudo o que me estavam a contar é o mais próximo da realidade possível. Por outro lado, a autora não se centra só na família Romanov, explica-nos o ponto de vista dos bolcheviques e o porquê de odiarem o czar e a czarina e conta-nos como foram os últimos 14 dias na última morada da família, tendo por base o contexto político da época. A visão romantizada a que tive acesso em outras obras, nesta foi erradicada. O czar não era um bom imperador e a sua mulher não era a melhor pessoa para o aconselhar, apenas os filhos não tinham culpa nenhuma do que viria a lhes acontecer. Assim, apenas duas ideias que já tinha ficaram: não havia necessidade de fuzilar os filhos, que nunca tiveram poder nas suas mãos, e aquela família teria sido muito feliz se não tivesse o apelido Romanov, uma vez que os seus membros se amavam e adoravam ter podido levar uma vida simples, longe do poder.
April 15, 2022
Since Nicholas and Alexandria and The Last Tsar I have been Romanov haunted. A 300 year old ruling dynasty is destroyed instantly in a barrage of bullets. Ms Rappaport tells the story of those last fateful two weeks leading up to that terrible moment when It ended and what follows after. This is historical writing at it's best. 5 stars
January 27, 2019
It's disgusting what those animals did to this poor family. This book only solidifies the saying that "the only good communist is a dead communist". The last few chapters of this book are absolutely horrifying. But beyond that, this is an interesting window into the Romanovs last few months of life. They were loving, pious, and a seemingly beautiful family, and it's a travesty that anyone was capable of doing what was done to these poor people.
March 28, 2016
Rivals the Manson murders for the pure savagery. A shameful act. Book was very well written and well balanced. Made the Romanovs more human than Nicholas and Alexandra, which practically deified them.
April 7, 2020
Harrowing but absolutely worth it.
March 6, 2017
-POTENTIAL SPOILERS-
I'm honestly not quite sure how to review this. I mean, not very much time is dedicated to the Romanovs at all. They all have their own separate chapters of course, minus the four sisters, who were all squished into one chapter but had separate sections for themselves. That was all fine and good, although most of the book is describing the atmosphere of Ekaterinburg, and the family's servants, and their killers, which is all fine and good since I did learn a lot of stuff I hadn't known before, like how a lot of Yakov's friends were Lithuanian and Latvian snipers, but this book is called The Last Days of the Romanovs, and I felt like I didn't really get that. At the end of the chapters, it would briefly go over what the family did on that particular day, and that was it. I felt like we didn't really get to know anything about what they did or how they felt in their final days.
And I do like how the book is structured so each chapter corresponds to whatever day that was in real life, all leading up to July 17th, the morning of their murders. I thought that was a pretty clever choice, although again, I do wish more of the time was spent actually with the Romanovs instead of talking about Lenin's backstory. Like, if I wanted to know about Lenin, then I would look him up myself. He doesn't really have much to do with the Romanovs.
However, I will address what I'm sure most people are wanting me to address: this book does talk about their murder, and it doesn't gloss anything over either. I've read books and articles and essays and whatnot about the Romanovs' execution, but I think this is the only time where I have outwardly cringed at the action. Not because it was badly-written, but of how detailed it was. It honestly does make me feel bad for adoring the five children and finding them charming and cute and lovable-I mean, I don't want to go too much into detail for anybody with weak stomachs, but let's just say, Alexei was splattered with his father's brains after he was shot right next to him, according to this book. It made my stomach turn, and I'm usually immune to such things. I will give the author props for tearing down the romanticized vision of the murder most people seem to have, and the romanticized version of the family in general.
Despite that though, many descriptions in this book were pretty boring. I don't care too much for politics, and this book was VERY politics-heavy. I could hardly keep the similar-sounding Russian names straight in my head, nor the party abbreviations. A lot of reviewers said this book didn't explain the Russian Revolution very well and that an expert would understand it better; well I'm an expert and I have no idea what's going on! A few topics were interesting, like stated before the amount of Latvian and Lithuanian soldiers that were involved in the murders, or the female Russian soldier Mariya who won several awards and even a high military honor for her work in WW1, but that was pretty much it. As stated before, this book was barely about the Romanovs, which is the reason why I read it.
Also, I'm not a fan of that cover, it looks really poorly-made. Like, separately those pictures might work, but together they just look really messy. She should've just done what every other biographer about the Romanovs does: put one of their family pictures on the cover. It's been done to death, sure, but it's obviously effective otherwise nobody would do it. Or maybe just a picture of the House of Special Purpose, or something, just not all together like that.
Overall, this book wasn't terrible, but I only recommend it for people like me who already know a lot about the Russian Empire in this time period and know a lot about the Romanovs on top of that, otherwise this book will just confuse you even more than it did me. Oh, and you must have a strong stomach, I am NOT kidding about how graphic that execution scene is. And it makes it even more disturbing when you realize that it actually happened.
I...I need something happy to think about now.
There we go. God I love that movie.
I'm honestly not quite sure how to review this. I mean, not very much time is dedicated to the Romanovs at all. They all have their own separate chapters of course, minus the four sisters, who were all squished into one chapter but had separate sections for themselves. That was all fine and good, although most of the book is describing the atmosphere of Ekaterinburg, and the family's servants, and their killers, which is all fine and good since I did learn a lot of stuff I hadn't known before, like how a lot of Yakov's friends were Lithuanian and Latvian snipers, but this book is called The Last Days of the Romanovs, and I felt like I didn't really get that. At the end of the chapters, it would briefly go over what the family did on that particular day, and that was it. I felt like we didn't really get to know anything about what they did or how they felt in their final days.
And I do like how the book is structured so each chapter corresponds to whatever day that was in real life, all leading up to July 17th, the morning of their murders. I thought that was a pretty clever choice, although again, I do wish more of the time was spent actually with the Romanovs instead of talking about Lenin's backstory. Like, if I wanted to know about Lenin, then I would look him up myself. He doesn't really have much to do with the Romanovs.
However, I will address what I'm sure most people are wanting me to address: this book does talk about their murder, and it doesn't gloss anything over either. I've read books and articles and essays and whatnot about the Romanovs' execution, but I think this is the only time where I have outwardly cringed at the action. Not because it was badly-written, but of how detailed it was. It honestly does make me feel bad for adoring the five children and finding them charming and cute and lovable-I mean, I don't want to go too much into detail for anybody with weak stomachs, but let's just say, Alexei was splattered with his father's brains after he was shot right next to him, according to this book. It made my stomach turn, and I'm usually immune to such things. I will give the author props for tearing down the romanticized vision of the murder most people seem to have, and the romanticized version of the family in general.
Despite that though, many descriptions in this book were pretty boring. I don't care too much for politics, and this book was VERY politics-heavy. I could hardly keep the similar-sounding Russian names straight in my head, nor the party abbreviations. A lot of reviewers said this book didn't explain the Russian Revolution very well and that an expert would understand it better; well I'm an expert and I have no idea what's going on! A few topics were interesting, like stated before the amount of Latvian and Lithuanian soldiers that were involved in the murders, or the female Russian soldier Mariya who won several awards and even a high military honor for her work in WW1, but that was pretty much it. As stated before, this book was barely about the Romanovs, which is the reason why I read it.
Also, I'm not a fan of that cover, it looks really poorly-made. Like, separately those pictures might work, but together they just look really messy. She should've just done what every other biographer about the Romanovs does: put one of their family pictures on the cover. It's been done to death, sure, but it's obviously effective otherwise nobody would do it. Or maybe just a picture of the House of Special Purpose, or something, just not all together like that.
Overall, this book wasn't terrible, but I only recommend it for people like me who already know a lot about the Russian Empire in this time period and know a lot about the Romanovs on top of that, otherwise this book will just confuse you even more than it did me. Oh, and you must have a strong stomach, I am NOT kidding about how graphic that execution scene is. And it makes it even more disturbing when you realize that it actually happened.
I...I need something happy to think about now.
There we go. God I love that movie.
June 20, 2023
"The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg" by Helen Rappaport is an impeccably researched and emotionally charged account that delves into the final moments of the Russian imperial family. Rappaport's masterful storytelling and attention to detail bring the tragic events surrounding the Romanovs to life, leaving readers with a profound understanding of the human cost of political upheaval.
Drawing on a wealth of primary sources and eyewitness testimonies, Rappaport meticulously reconstructs the final days of Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and their children in Ekaterinburg. The author's dedication to historical accuracy is evident in her comprehensive examination of the events leading up to their brutal execution. Through her vivid descriptions, readers are transported to the confines of the Ipatiev House, feeling the tension, fear, and uncertainty that plagued the Romanovs during their captivity.
What sets "The Last Days of the Romanovs" apart is Rappaport's ability to humanize the imperial family. She goes beyond the historical narrative, painting a nuanced picture of the Romanovs as individuals, with hopes, dreams, and complex relationships. The book offers a deeply intimate portrayal of the family dynamics and showcases their resilience in the face of unimaginable circumstances. Rappaport's sensitivity and empathy shine through, allowing readers to connect with the Romanovs on an emotional level.
Rappaport's prose is engaging and evocative, effortlessly conveying the historical context while maintaining a sense of suspense and foreboding. She skillfully balances the personal stories of the Romanovs with the larger political landscape, providing valuable insights into the dynamics of the Russian Revolution. The author's attention to detail is evident in her descriptions of the physical surroundings, enhancing the reader's immersion in the story.
"The Last Days of the Romanovs" stands as a testament to Rappaport's meticulous research and her ability to craft a compelling narrative from historical facts. The book is accompanied by a wealth of photographs and illustrations, further enriching the reading experience. Rappaport's dedication to presenting an accurate and comprehensive account ensures that this book serves as a valuable resource for both history enthusiasts and those seeking to understand the human tragedies that unfolded during this tumultuous period.
In conclusion, "The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg" is an exceptional work of historical non-fiction that brings to life the gripping and heartbreaking story of the Russian imperial family. Helen Rappaport's impeccable research, coupled with her empathetic storytelling, makes this book a must-read for anyone interested in the last days of the Romanovs and the tragic consequences of political upheaval.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 6, 2009
I had the misfortune of arriving at chapter 14 of The Last Days of the Romanovs in the late evening—of course I couldn’t put the book down—and let me say that the terrible gruesomeness recounted in those final chapters does not make for restful sleep afterwards. Gory? Absolutely. Sickening? Indeed. But Rappaport’s account of the murders is considerably more disturbing because the earlier chapters of the book establish the Romanovs as such a deeply human and sympathetic family.
Tsar Nicholas was a terribly inept ruler, and under his reign, the Russian populace was alternately humiliated and brutalized. But as Rappaport describes, Nicholas was also a caring and nurturing father, a man worn down to a thin semblance of his younger self by misfortune and the demands of his position, a job he never really wanted. The much-hated Tsaritsa Alexandra was lonely in her adopted homeland, wracked by illness, and defined by undying devotion to her hemophiliac son. The Grand Duchesses (Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia) were shockingly down-to-earth young women, and despite his condition, Grand Duke Alexei Nikolaevich was a vivacious and physically brave boy. It’s obvious, perhaps, but Rappaport’s story unequivocally confirms the innocence of the Romanov children and it resounds with mournfulness at their untimely deaths.
Rappaport has done a remarkable job here of weaving a convincing narrative from a patchwork of information (academic research, government documents, and informed speculation) but her writing and the editing of this book has much to be desired. In chapters dedicated to each victim, the story quickly loses focus on the subject at hand, careening off in time and space. Lacking structure and focus, the middle of the book is a slog.
Whether you believe her account in part or in full, Rappaport has accomplished something wonderful with this book. She cuts through a mountain of disinformation and folklore—uncertainty about the fate of the Romanovs that still exists today, nearly a century later—and she provides a stunningly precise account of what happened in Ekaterinburg and on that terrible night in July—who did what to whom, where, and when—and she convincingly traces the chain of command that set this terrible machine into motion, continuing up the Bolshevik hierarchy to the man at the very top. Fascinating stuff.
Tsar Nicholas was a terribly inept ruler, and under his reign, the Russian populace was alternately humiliated and brutalized. But as Rappaport describes, Nicholas was also a caring and nurturing father, a man worn down to a thin semblance of his younger self by misfortune and the demands of his position, a job he never really wanted. The much-hated Tsaritsa Alexandra was lonely in her adopted homeland, wracked by illness, and defined by undying devotion to her hemophiliac son. The Grand Duchesses (Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia) were shockingly down-to-earth young women, and despite his condition, Grand Duke Alexei Nikolaevich was a vivacious and physically brave boy. It’s obvious, perhaps, but Rappaport’s story unequivocally confirms the innocence of the Romanov children and it resounds with mournfulness at their untimely deaths.
Rappaport has done a remarkable job here of weaving a convincing narrative from a patchwork of information (academic research, government documents, and informed speculation) but her writing and the editing of this book has much to be desired. In chapters dedicated to each victim, the story quickly loses focus on the subject at hand, careening off in time and space. Lacking structure and focus, the middle of the book is a slog.
Whether you believe her account in part or in full, Rappaport has accomplished something wonderful with this book. She cuts through a mountain of disinformation and folklore—uncertainty about the fate of the Romanovs that still exists today, nearly a century later—and she provides a stunningly precise account of what happened in Ekaterinburg and on that terrible night in July—who did what to whom, where, and when—and she convincingly traces the chain of command that set this terrible machine into motion, continuing up the Bolshevik hierarchy to the man at the very top. Fascinating stuff.
December 23, 2015
This is truly an amazing history book! Mrs. Rappaport goes beyond the limits of historical narrative and succeeds in recreating the whole heavy and tormenting atmosphere of the final two weeks in the lives of the Romanovs up to the moment of their appaling death. I know it sounds like a cliche, but the narrative description of historical characters, mental and physical conditions or even things is so powerful and compelling that it's almost as if you are there, experiencing the same feelings, hopes and fears as the members of the Romanov family or their guards.
The narrative is like a carousel of hopes and despair, apparent moments of calm and unleashing of all the horrors of the world, desolation and desecration, everything reflecting the Romanovs' state of mind and the incredible course of action. Although a historian, the author is a complete master in creating suspense and introducing an impatient standby to the hooked up reader. In that sense, to say that I have read this book as a thriller or mistery novel (though, paradoxically, everybody knows how it ends!) seems to be an understatement.
To sum up, this is definitely one of the best history books that I have ever read, a volume that deserves the entirety of its praises and my 5 humble stars. Hats off, Mrs. Rappaport!
The narrative is like a carousel of hopes and despair, apparent moments of calm and unleashing of all the horrors of the world, desolation and desecration, everything reflecting the Romanovs' state of mind and the incredible course of action. Although a historian, the author is a complete master in creating suspense and introducing an impatient standby to the hooked up reader. In that sense, to say that I have read this book as a thriller or mistery novel (though, paradoxically, everybody knows how it ends!) seems to be an understatement.
To sum up, this is definitely one of the best history books that I have ever read, a volume that deserves the entirety of its praises and my 5 humble stars. Hats off, Mrs. Rappaport!
October 24, 2011
A very readable piecing together of the last few weeks in the lives of Tsar Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, their five children, and the unfortunate faithful retainers who shared their fate. Each chapter moves the narrative along a few days, or a day (towards the end), then focuses on a protagonist in order to give the background of the event leading up to the massacre.
As we know what happened, the feeling of tension and inevitable doom builds until we reach the very graphic chapter that describes, in horrific detail, what happened to the Romanovs and their servants. To be frank, I didn't read that chapter all that closely.
Ms Rappaport has researched meticulously and set out her arguments and narratives clearly. She succeeds in finding a balance between the Romanovs-as-saints and Romanovs-as-oppressors camps, and even manages to shed light on the motivations of their executioners. I was left with a feeling of sadness, not so much for the Romanovs and their company who were, after all only eleven out of millions who have suffered despair and death in Russia over the past century, but that such suffering is not likely to be over any time soon.
As we know what happened, the feeling of tension and inevitable doom builds until we reach the very graphic chapter that describes, in horrific detail, what happened to the Romanovs and their servants. To be frank, I didn't read that chapter all that closely.
Ms Rappaport has researched meticulously and set out her arguments and narratives clearly. She succeeds in finding a balance between the Romanovs-as-saints and Romanovs-as-oppressors camps, and even manages to shed light on the motivations of their executioners. I was left with a feeling of sadness, not so much for the Romanovs and their company who were, after all only eleven out of millions who have suffered despair and death in Russia over the past century, but that such suffering is not likely to be over any time soon.
February 6, 2018
I consider this the absolutely best book I have read about the Romanov family. Even though I knew the tragic end, I almost felt as though it could be changed, so well written was this account!
March 22, 2023
This was a fairly difficult read towards the end. It is an odd feeling reading a book where you're already aware of the ending in advance. This book takes a unique spin on the recounting of this story, there are 16 chapters (there is also an introduction and an epilogue). Each of those 16 chapters is structured around one day or a few days. There is additional context provided within the chapter to ensure the reader is properly equipped with the relevant background.
The Romanovs were technically killed on the morning of the 17th of July 1918. This book starts on 30th April - 3rd July 1918. As the chapters progress, the days pass by and then you read on to chapter 15 which is very obviously the longest chapter. This was one of the hardest chapters to read through, so be warned. As we move onto the 16th chapter and the epilogue you kind of drift into a state of uncomfortableness and disarray. The book ends as one would expect, Helen Rappaport mentions how the city of Ekaterinburg has changed and how people treat visiting the town and Tobolsk as a pilgrimage, essentially making it into a tourist attraction of sorts.
Before starting this book, (I have also read the second book in this trilogy centred around the lost lives of the daughters and the familial view of the Romanov family) I did wonder why was this such a topic of interest for me and other people. Obviously, the whole aspect of not actively having an idea of what had taken place during the last days of their capture and the various conspiracy theories that spanned from it. Mainly the fact that one or some of the children or even the Tsar himself made it out alive and was in hiding. You have the Anna Anderson story (she was an impostor who claimed to be the youngest daughter, Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia) which then inspired the 1997 animated film Anastasia (this was my first exposure to the Romanov dynasty as well). Coupled with Rasputin's death, the abdication of the throne, the Revolution of Russia with the Bolsheviks coming into power, the birth of Leninism (the precursor to communism and a lot of other -isms across Europe and the wider world) and you get quite the political landscape.
Overall, I think this all boils down to the fact that something of this stature, mainly the regicide and liquidation of an entire dynasty including the last royal family of a country such as Russia, hadn't taken place before and it was all done under the hidden cover of morning. The epilogue of the book sums it up very well:
“Some historians have seen it as being a turning point in the history of the twentieth century, laying the foundations for far greater acts of organised genocide later, during the Holocaust, in Africa and in Yugoslavia.”
The Romanovs were technically killed on the morning of the 17th of July 1918. This book starts on 30th April - 3rd July 1918. As the chapters progress, the days pass by and then you read on to chapter 15 which is very obviously the longest chapter. This was one of the hardest chapters to read through, so be warned. As we move onto the 16th chapter and the epilogue you kind of drift into a state of uncomfortableness and disarray. The book ends as one would expect, Helen Rappaport mentions how the city of Ekaterinburg has changed and how people treat visiting the town and Tobolsk as a pilgrimage, essentially making it into a tourist attraction of sorts.
Before starting this book, (I have also read the second book in this trilogy centred around the lost lives of the daughters and the familial view of the Romanov family) I did wonder why was this such a topic of interest for me and other people. Obviously, the whole aspect of not actively having an idea of what had taken place during the last days of their capture and the various conspiracy theories that spanned from it. Mainly the fact that one or some of the children or even the Tsar himself made it out alive and was in hiding. You have the Anna Anderson story (she was an impostor who claimed to be the youngest daughter, Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia) which then inspired the 1997 animated film Anastasia (this was my first exposure to the Romanov dynasty as well). Coupled with Rasputin's death, the abdication of the throne, the Revolution of Russia with the Bolsheviks coming into power, the birth of Leninism (the precursor to communism and a lot of other -isms across Europe and the wider world) and you get quite the political landscape.
Overall, I think this all boils down to the fact that something of this stature, mainly the regicide and liquidation of an entire dynasty including the last royal family of a country such as Russia, hadn't taken place before and it was all done under the hidden cover of morning. The epilogue of the book sums it up very well:
“Some historians have seen it as being a turning point in the history of the twentieth century, laying the foundations for far greater acts of organised genocide later, during the Holocaust, in Africa and in Yugoslavia.”
December 8, 2020
Having just finished Montefiore's monster of a book, "The Romanovs," I went into this thinking I have enough information I need. Yes and no; I came here knowing what was their eventual end (in fact, this book was written earlier, when the bodies are yet to be confirmed as the Romanovs'), but this was also a day-by-day account which expertly weaves in the story of each of the characters (the family members including their doctor who was with them, as well as their murderers), giving us a better picture - but at the same time a more gruesome one, too. This is definitely a book that doesn't shy away from facts, and the violence of it. It shows, too, how the murderers ended up; some getting the justice they deserve, while others being more fortunate. With acerbic tone, Rappaport reminds us that good doesn't always win out in the end. I especially liked the touch of cynicism at the end, where the site has become a tourist spot, capitalizing on the "saintliness" of the murdered family. Highly recommended, though you have been warned of its straightforward style, not sugarcoating the brutality that happened.
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