To Free the Romanovs: Royal Kinship and Betrayal in Europe 1917-1919

by Coryne Hall

When Russia erupted into revolution, almost overnight the pampered lifestyle of the Imperial family vanished. Within months many of them were under arrest and they became "enemies of the Revolution and the Russian people." None of them wanted to leave Russia; they expected to be back on their estates soon and to live as before. When it became obvious that this was not going to happen a few managed to flee but others became dependent on their foreign relatives for help. For those who failed to escape, the questions remain. Why did they fail? What did their relatives do to help them? Were lives sacrificed to save other European thrones? After 35 years researching and writing about the Romanovs, Coryne Hall considers the end of the 300-year-old dynasty, and the guilt of the royal families in Europe over the Romanovs’ bloody end. Did the Kaiser do enough? Did George V? When the Tsar’s cousins King Haakon of Norway and King Christian of Denmark heard of Nicholas’s abdication, what did they do? Unpublished diaries of the Tsar’s cousin Grand Duke Dmitri give a new insight to the Romanovs’ feelings about George V’s involvement.

Genres: History, Royalty, Nonfiction, Romanovs, Russian History, European History, 20th Century

304 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2020

About the author

Coryne Hall is an historian, broadcaster and consultant specialising in the Romanovs and British and European royalty. She was born in Ealing, West London and developed a fascination for Imperial Russia in childhood when she learnt that her great-grandmother was born in St Petersburg, an almost exact contemporary of Nicholas II. The author of six books, she is a regular contributor to Majesty magazine, The European Royal History Journal, Royal Russia, Sovereign and Royalty Digest Quarterly. She acted as consultant on the Danish television documentaries “A Royal Family” and “The Royal Jewels.”
Coryne has lectured at royalty conferences in England, Denmark, Russia and America. Her media appearances include Woman’s Hour, BBC South Today, the documentaries “Russia’s Lost Princesses” and "13 Moments of Fate", live coverage of Charles and Camilla’s wedding for Canadian television and co-hosting live coverage of Prince William’s wedding alongside John Moore for Newstalk 1010, Canada. She was also the last person to have a private audience with Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She lives in Hampshire.

Reviews

[Jill Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the front cover of Coryne Hall's book, "To Free the Romanovs", is a picture of the ex-Tsar Nicholas II sitting on a tree stump, while in captivity. He's guarded by a few soldiers; the year before he would have been giving the orders. To look at Nicholas is to see a sad, tired man, with a thinning face and body. Within another year or so, he will be murdered, along with his immediate family, in the basement of a house in Yekaterinburg. But Nicholas and his family were not the only Romanovs caught up in the revolution. Coryne Hall does an excellent job writing about the extended family - both those endangered by the revolution and those in position to help the others.

Nicholas came from a large family, as did his wife, Alexandra. She was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, who had descendants in all the royal families of Europe. Nicholas was also related through his mother to many other royals. After the Russian revolution, not only was Nicholas and his family threatened, so were his many aunts, uncles, and cousins. A race of sorts began by those outside Russia to save those still inside. Hall writes with perception about who was involved - both on governmental and personal levels. The "politics" at work here was astounding.

Coryne Hall is an experienced writer of Russian history. This book is a pleasure to read.

[Zosi · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Another solid work by Coryne Hall; one of my favorite writers on the Russian Revolution. This book takes a wider look at the royal families of Europe at the time, along with the extended Romanov family, and makes for a fascinating read.

[Carolyn Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating history of what Europe's royal families did and did not do to help Czar Nicholas II and his extended family after the Russian Revolutions of 1917. Most books that examine negotiations concerning the Romanovs in 1917 focus narrowly on Czar Nicholas II and his cousin King George V.
Hall instead looks at the full range of interested monarchs including King Alfonso XIII of Spain, who showed a strong interest in the welfare of the Russian Imperial family, Kaiser Wilhelm II, whose assistance was rebuffed by his Russian relatives because of the First World War, and King Christian X of Denmark, whose diplomats provided some aid to imprisoned Grand Dukes in 1919.
Hall draws upon British archival sources as well as the unpublished diaries of Nicholas II's cousin, Grand Duke Dmitri, who became increasingly outraged by George V's failure to do more to help Nicholas II.
While I greatly enjoyed the book, I thought the ending could have been stronger, emphasizing all the reasons why there were not more efforts to help the Romanovs including the First World War and the poor communications of the time. (The book is filled with references to undelivered letters and unsent telegrams).
Instead, To Free the Romanovs, ends with the loose threads concerning negotiations between Russia and European powers concerning the Romanovs just before the murder of Czar Nicholas II and his immediate family and the hope that that further information will come to light.
Highly recommended and topical reading for the 100th anniversary of the murder of Czar Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra and their children, as well as members of the extended Romanov dynasty, this month.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is nothing in the book that you can't find in most books that deal with the Romanovs around the time of the revolution, but it is convenient to have it all in one easy-to-read location. Hall zips right along, and if by the end of the book you have little insight into separate personalities, you do understand what happened to most of the major players. The ingratitude of the Allies to Tsarist Russia was fairly spectacular. Even the familial response was poor, although it was interesting to note just how many cousins absolutely could not stand Alexandra.

A fast and reasonably enjoyable read.

[Johannes Froebel-Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book filled in many details of the labyrinth of genealogical relations among the European Royal Families involved not only in their own challenges stemming from WWI and the Bolshevik Revolution, but also in attempts, half attempts, failed attempts and attempts not made to save their kin, the Romanovs. A member of the Romanov family shared with me that they also found it well-written and informative. The Five Stare rating is well merited. It is now a "go-to" reference for ongoing research into the end of the Romanov Dynasty.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will read anything written about the Romanovs. This book looks at the tragedy of their murder from a different perspective, one that is not often explored. Highly recommend.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a baffling book to read. Not only was the tale of how relatives of the Romanov’s sitting on mist of the thrones of Europe failed to do anything to help - and I won’t even start on King George V of England’s perfidy - but the authored decision to write thematically by character rather than chronologically caused constant backtracking and repeating the same story from another angle. Can’t highly recommend this very highly.