The Escape of Alexei

by Igor Lysenho and Georgy Egoroy Vaoim Petrov, Georgy Egorov, Vadim Petrov

Vasily Filatov, a village teacher who lived under the harsh control of the Soviet Union, professed to have had knowledge of the private life of Tsar Nicholas II and his family, and of details surrounding their massacre in 1918, following the Russian Revolution. In the 1980s, when Soviet archives were opened to the public during perestroika, they were found to verify stories that Filatov had told his family. This book claims that 14-year-old Tsarevich Alexei survived the massacre, and that he and Vasily Filatov were one and the same. Filatov's widow and children provide personal reminiscences

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

240 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1998

Reviews

[Alenka of Bohemia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Except for reprints of some genuine documents in full (i.e. the request of Dr. Botkin for allowing Alexei´s tutors to be allowed into the Ipatiev house), there is really no value to this publication. The whole first half merely gives some basic historical background, pretty much dismisses the accounts of the executioners as faked (without proof) and then there is a lot of trying to persuade the reader that Alexei lived. this the authors came to believe on the basis of some really low-quality photograph comparison, a privately orchestrated writing analysis, and the fact some dude grows his beard like Nicholas II. The fact that Vasily Filatov was obviously very intelligent cannot be taken into account as proof at all, especially since the writers insist he spoke languages Alexei had never been taught and played instruments Alexei had never been taught to play etc.

I also found it extremely weird that they insisted Alexei survived the brutal massacre in the Iptaiev house completely unharmed. This book was, of course, written before the 2007 discovery of the two missing bodies, so perhaps the fact those bodies had been missing in the first grave was just too tempting for the writers to let go of once they were contacted by Filatov. Yet in the whole book, there is not a single suggestion as to the fate of the "missing" sister. What happened to her according to these people?

I picked this book up because I am fascinated with the Romanov pretenders and how much mental gymnastics they can go to. I am never disappointed in the amount of de-lu-lu.

[Maryse · Rating 3 out of 5]

The mystery of "Anastasia" has always intrigued me, but in this book it proposes that it was not only Anastasia (or any one of the sisters) that had managed to escape that night, but also the Tsaverich Alexei. It is easy to dismiss this as just another Romanov wanna-be, but the striking similarity in the appearances of the two families are rather intriguing. This, added to the fact that their father never actually claimed to be a Romanov (unlike the others), instead it was the children, piecing together the strange gaps and inconsistencies in his life, who deduced the possibility of him being Alexei, which makes it more believable. Yet, all the evidence in this book is not sufficient to positively identify their father as the Tsaverich. Still, it's a new insight to an old mystery and a good read

[Dolly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Likes: Depiction of Romanov family tree, Romanov family pictures.

Dislikes: no actual proof of Vasily's connection, fictional tale of what could have happened wrapped around a nonfiction story of the execution of the family.

Did not finish, but got enough of the narrative to see where the fact of the Tsarevich's life and the fact of Mr. Filatov's life are merged through fiction to livenk them together as one person.

The claim is debunked here .

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Everything is presented in such a convincing manner. Even if it isn't real...it is intriguing to think it is.

[Amanda Edwards · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good historical documents. But we know how this story ends. They all died.

[Teresa Sogard robarge · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was hard to read now knowing that the two "missing Romanovs's remains have been found and positively identified.

[Baron Rothschild · Rating 3 out of 5]

zzzzzzz

[Kris Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cleaning out my bookshelf this caught my attention and I just plowed through it once again. When I first purchased this book in 1998, it was cutting edge and highly plausible - fascinating in it's methodical argument of how Alexei Romanov escaped the assassination of the Romanov family during World War I and went on to live a full life as an elementary school teacher. Buried inside there's a brief paragraph in a section on "pretenders" that says "And finally one more story occurred literally as these lines were being written..." asserting that a second grave had been found containing the bones of Alexei and the missing sister. Interestingly, that footnote turned out to be the most important piece of evidence in the case, proving this entire book fiction.

Despite that reality, the book remains fascinating. It is clearly an amateur publishing job -- more of a file or dossier than a book - which in ways makes it more fascinating. The first person stories are collected and presented, the evidence explained and available for you to examine yourself, and some of it is convincing....especially poignant in this era of AL and deepfakes to consider how convincing a simple direct argument can be even when already disproven.

The bottom line is that repeated DNA testing has confirmed the bodies are Alexei and his sister, and yet the Russian Orthodox church has still not allowed (as of 2023) them to be buried with their family.( The last reference I can find to the issue is from the History Channel from 2019 https://www.history.com/news/romanov-...).

[Elizabeth Hanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining read!

[Noora · Rating 1 out of 5]

whatever you say delulu family

[Caitlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although the photo comparasions are amazing, the logic and chance of the possibilty of Alexei surving is slim. Still anything is possible. It's noted that Alexei was purposely kept alive and spared, but I don't buy into that too much. Again, anything is possible.

[Denise Lowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting theory positing that Alexei Romanov, heir to the throne of the Russian Empire, escaped the mass execution of his family by the Bolsheviks.

[Roberta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Less than totally convincing.