Collected Works: Once a Grand Duke; Always a Grand Duke; Twilight of Royalty

by Alexander Mikhailovich, John van der Kiste (Introduction)

Alexander, Grand Duke of Russia (1866-1933), grandson of Tsar Nicholas I, and brother-in-law of Tsar Nicholas II, served as a naval officer during the last years of the Romanov dynasty. Married to Grand Duchess Xenia, he was the father-in-law of Prince Felix Youssoupov, one of the men who helped to murder Rasputin, the 'Holy Man', whose influence over Empress Alexandra did so much to bring about the fall of the last Tsar. After the Russian revolution and the fall of the dynasty Alexander settled in France, where he published two volumes of memoirs, 'Once a Grand Duke' and 'Always a Grand Duke', as well as a commentary on the state of European monarchy during the 1920s and 1930s, 'Twilight of Royalty'. Essential reading on the period, these three books are now published together in one volume for the first time, with a short introduction by John Van der Kiste.

258 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 23, 2020

About the author

Grand Duke Alexander Mihailovich of Russia was a naval officer, an author, explorer, the brother-in-law and advisor of Emperor Nicholas II.

Alexander played a major role in the creation of Russian military aviation. He was the initiator of the officer's aviation school near Sevastopol in 1910 and later the chief of the Imperial Russian Air Service during the First World War.

In 1917 he went into exile and wrote his memoirs and became fascinated with archaeology and conducted a number of expeditions.