What do you think?
Rate this book
The Romanovs' Murder Case: The Myth of the Basement Room Massacre
Every fairy tale contains the story of a prince, and once the prince meets his princess, they often live happily ever after. But for Nicholas II, tsar of all the Russias, and his wife, Princess Alexandra of Hesse, the ending would be different. At age fifty, brutally murdered by his subjects, Nicholass body was mutilated and thrown into an unmarked mass grave with eight other people in a swampy bog in the middle of a remote forest.
The Romanovs Murder Case takes a detailed look at the infamous mass murder of this Russian imperial family, stripped of its claim to the throne before being executed in 1918 following the February Revolution. Author T. G. Bolen investigates the evidence from the site of the murders, the Ipatiev House, ultimately refuting investigator Nicholas Sokolovs report that locates the murders in the homes basement. Bolen also provides, for the first time, details of the United States intelligence officer, Homer Slaughter, who was in the Ipatiev House within twenty-four hours of the murders.
This study shows that the Romanov murders may very well have occurred in different rooms in the house, and that there was no eleven-person massacre. And although this story will never end happily ever after, revealing new evidence to refute the prevailing story will shed new light on the truth.
The Romanovs Murder Case takes a detailed look at the infamous mass murder of this Russian imperial family, stripped of its claim to the throne before being executed in 1918 following the February Revolution. Author T. G. Bolen investigates the evidence from the site of the murders, the Ipatiev House, ultimately refuting investigator Nicholas Sokolovs report that locates the murders in the homes basement. Bolen also provides, for the first time, details of the United States intelligence officer, Homer Slaughter, who was in the Ipatiev House within twenty-four hours of the murders.
This study shows that the Romanov murders may very well have occurred in different rooms in the house, and that there was no eleven-person massacre. And although this story will never end happily ever after, revealing new evidence to refute the prevailing story will shed new light on the truth.
- GenresHistory
204 pages, Paperback
Published June 28, 2018
79 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 29, 2019
This is a fairly short read, as the author only has one premise: the Romanovs were not killed, together with four servants, by a firing squad in the basement room of the house in which they were held. The author does not dispute that they were all executed, on July 17, 1918, or within a short time of that date.
The primary source for the 'basement massacre' seems to be the Bolsheviks, but their accounts do not agree with one another, nor with other sources. The author examines the account compiled by the White Russians and finds that it ignored the discrepancies and many of the other sources. (It was also virulently anti-Semitic.)
The alternative scenario the author suggests is uncertain - the house is gone, and the bodies too damaged to put a crack CSI team on the case. He believes that the family were killed separately and in groups: Nicolai by himself, and then the others, and that at least some were killed in the upper rooms of the house. The daughters might possibly have been kept alive for a short time afterward, as a peace offering to the Germans, but when Russia recaptured the land it had ceded to Germany to get out of the war, they were no longer of use. In any case, they were killed, and we now (as of 2007) have definite DNA evidence that we've got parts of all seven bodies.
I would have liked to have seen more investigation into the separate grave of Alexei and (probably) Maria. The other nine bodies were moved and reburied by the Bolsheviks, and the author discusses the alleged cremation of two bodies (the false site), but does not offer any explanation as to how and why Alexei ended up with Maria. (That would suggest that the two were killed together?)
There are some other problems with the book. The narrative is mostly quite readable, but can be confusing with all the names. An extended family tree might have helped, along with a reference list giving the names of the various other parties and a brief identification. We are also asked to simultaneously discredit some sources, while relying on some of their observations. If the premise the author was trying to prove were less narrow, it would fail.
Fortunately, he sticks to what can objectively and intuitively shown: that the executions could not have happened the way they are said to have happened. The notion of eleven victims (and possibly a dog) and a firing squad of eleven in a fairly small room simply doesn't add up. From that point, the author offers mostly conjecture, though he does give us a fair certainty that some of the murders took place in the rooms occupied by Nicolai, Alexandra and Alexei.
The primary source for the 'basement massacre' seems to be the Bolsheviks, but their accounts do not agree with one another, nor with other sources. The author examines the account compiled by the White Russians and finds that it ignored the discrepancies and many of the other sources. (It was also virulently anti-Semitic.)
The alternative scenario the author suggests is uncertain - the house is gone, and the bodies too damaged to put a crack CSI team on the case. He believes that the family were killed separately and in groups: Nicolai by himself, and then the others, and that at least some were killed in the upper rooms of the house. The daughters might possibly have been kept alive for a short time afterward, as a peace offering to the Germans, but when Russia recaptured the land it had ceded to Germany to get out of the war, they were no longer of use. In any case, they were killed, and we now (as of 2007) have definite DNA evidence that we've got parts of all seven bodies.
I would have liked to have seen more investigation into the separate grave of Alexei and (probably) Maria. The other nine bodies were moved and reburied by the Bolsheviks, and the author discusses the alleged cremation of two bodies (the false site), but does not offer any explanation as to how and why Alexei ended up with Maria. (That would suggest that the two were killed together?)
There are some other problems with the book. The narrative is mostly quite readable, but can be confusing with all the names. An extended family tree might have helped, along with a reference list giving the names of the various other parties and a brief identification. We are also asked to simultaneously discredit some sources, while relying on some of their observations. If the premise the author was trying to prove were less narrow, it would fail.
Fortunately, he sticks to what can objectively and intuitively shown: that the executions could not have happened the way they are said to have happened. The notion of eleven victims (and possibly a dog) and a firing squad of eleven in a fairly small room simply doesn't add up. From that point, the author offers mostly conjecture, though he does give us a fair certainty that some of the murders took place in the rooms occupied by Nicolai, Alexandra and Alexei.
June 26, 2020
I've read Romanov history extensively, so I found this book really interesting. The Yurovsky and Sokolov reports have always been off, and both had agendas. I believe Radzinsky and Summers & Mangold cleared up a lot of the issues. Now along come TG Bolden, with a really simple explanation for at least some of the questions.
It's never made sense to me that 22 people could get jammed into that small basement room. My bedroom is about the size of that room, and boy, that would create a real mess. The shooters would end up shooting each other and The Family. Separate rooms, makes perfect sense. And there would be a lot more blood than was found. The placement of the truck also makes sense.
Things that need clarification or more study. (1) Where was OTMA murdered? Bolden touches on this but doesn't come up with any good answers (not that anyone could). (2) Why were Maria and Alelxi buried separately? This has always been a big problem for me, and I can only suggest that they were killed together at a different time and or place. (Obviously these questions probably will never be answered.
BOlden's explanation of Romanov succession is really good and simple to follow. What a mess!
I would love to see more research on Bruce Lockhart in Ekaterinburg and especially a very high tech/expert analysis of the handwriting of the Heine verses on the wall. And if he did write it, why?
Finally, it is important to remember the gigantic chaos throughout Russia 1917-1921
l suppose ultimately it really makes no difference where the Romanovs were killed, yet it has the accepted story has bothered people for 100 years. Bolden's deconstruction of the crime scene is important in that it does introduce us to a new alternative.
It's never made sense to me that 22 people could get jammed into that small basement room. My bedroom is about the size of that room, and boy, that would create a real mess. The shooters would end up shooting each other and The Family. Separate rooms, makes perfect sense. And there would be a lot more blood than was found. The placement of the truck also makes sense.
Things that need clarification or more study. (1) Where was OTMA murdered? Bolden touches on this but doesn't come up with any good answers (not that anyone could). (2) Why were Maria and Alelxi buried separately? This has always been a big problem for me, and I can only suggest that they were killed together at a different time and or place. (Obviously these questions probably will never be answered.
BOlden's explanation of Romanov succession is really good and simple to follow. What a mess!
I would love to see more research on Bruce Lockhart in Ekaterinburg and especially a very high tech/expert analysis of the handwriting of the Heine verses on the wall. And if he did write it, why?
Finally, it is important to remember the gigantic chaos throughout Russia 1917-1921
l suppose ultimately it really makes no difference where the Romanovs were killed, yet it has the accepted story has bothered people for 100 years. Bolden's deconstruction of the crime scene is important in that it does introduce us to a new alternative.
May 22, 2019
An interesting approach
Very interesting approach. Great details. No conclusive evidence to end the story, but my own imagination runs freely and hopes for a better ending.
Very interesting approach. Great details. No conclusive evidence to end the story, but my own imagination runs freely and hopes for a better ending.
January 7, 2022
Closest to the truth as any other author has yet to publish. Investigations were conducted as a CSI detective would with solid confirmed results. The truth of what happened is almost revealed.
June 19, 2025
new perspective
Hard to follow but gives new ideas about the execution of the Romanovs. Disputes some accepted theories of their deaths.
Hard to follow but gives new ideas about the execution of the Romanovs. Disputes some accepted theories of their deaths.
May 31, 2021
The author does not believe all of the Romanovs were killed in the basement of the house they were being held in. Presents many different theories. Quite interesting point of view.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews