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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
This is a well-written and thorough book about the four Grand Duchesses. I have already read Rappaport's Ekaterinburg and I think it's an excellent (if horrific) follow-up to this book. Rappaport knows how much to include in this book so that the reader gets the story, but doesn't end up writing two books about the same topic.
I liked that we started with Alexandra and here mother because it gives the reader a suggestion of why the Empress was such a hypochondriac and generally nervous. The book focusses on the daughters but we get a good look at the parents too, along with the longed-for son Alexey. All four of the daughters come through as individuals and all four are very down-to-earth and happy with the simple things. When they are locked up in Siberia, the girls take pleasure from little things like the smell of a fir tree or the dawn chorus.
You heart aches for these girls as they grow into teenagers and become young women. Their time as nurses in WW1 is eye-opening because it shows them in a humble and hardworking light.
This is a really interesting and accessible book for anyone interested in this time period or the Romanov family.
I liked that we started with Alexandra and here mother because it gives the reader a suggestion of why the Empress was such a hypochondriac and generally nervous. The book focusses on the daughters but we get a good look at the parents too, along with the longed-for son Alexey. All four of the daughters come through as individuals and all four are very down-to-earth and happy with the simple things. When they are locked up in Siberia, the girls take pleasure from little things like the smell of a fir tree or the dawn chorus.
You heart aches for these girls as they grow into teenagers and become young women. Their time as nurses in WW1 is eye-opening because it shows them in a humble and hardworking light.
This is a really interesting and accessible book for anyone interested in this time period or the Romanov family.
"[a:Helen Rappaport|146124|Helen Rappaport|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1393357021p2/146124.jpg] brings the four daughters of the last tsar to life in their own words, illuminating the opulence of their doomed world and their courage as they faced a terrible end.
They were the Princess Dianas of their day-perhaps the most photographed and talked about young royals of the early twentieth century. The four captivating Russian grand duchesses-Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia Romanova-were much admired for their happy dispositions, their looks, the clothes they wore, and their privileged lifestyle.
Over the years, the story of the four Romanov sisters and their tragic end in a basement at Ekaterinburg in 1918 had clouded our view of them, leading to a mass sentimental and idealized hagiography. From a treasure trove of dairies and letters written by the grand duchesses to their friends and family, we learned they were intelligent, sensitive, and perceptive witnesses to the dark turmoil within their immediate family and the ominous approach of the Russian Revolution, the night mare that would sweep their world away and them along with it.
[b:The Romanov Sisters|18404173|The Romanov Sisters The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra|Helen Rappaport|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1396818138s/18404173.jpg|26038032] sets out to capture the joy as well as the insecurities and poignancy of those young lives against the backdrop of the dying days of the late imperial Russia, World War I, and the Russian Revolution. Rappaport has set out to present a new and challenging take on the story, drawing extensively on previously unseen or unpublished letters, dairies, and archival sources, as well as photographs and other material in private collections. It is a book that will surprise people, even the Romanov aficionados." - Quote from inside front cover of my hardback copy of [b:The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra|18404173|The Romanov Sisters The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra|Helen Rappaport|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1396818138s/18404173.jpg|26038032]
This was the first book I have read by [a:Helen Rappaport|146124|Helen Rappaport|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1393357021p2/146124.jpg] so I was not exactly sure what to expect from her. I was pleasantly surprised when I began reading this book. [a:Helen Rappaport|146124|Helen Rappaport|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1393357021p2/146124.jpg] does an excellent job of using historical evidence to give her readers a peek into the Romanov's lives. There were times when I felt a bit embarrassed for the young duchesses, having had their dairies read, even though they had been dead for many years. I still doubt they would have wanted anyone to have read their personal and private thoughts. As I moved closer and closer to the end of the book, I obviously knew that the Romanovs were going to be murdered. I found myself feeling bad for the four young girls. They should have had their wholes lives ahead of them yet they were killed just because of what family they happened to be born into. Very sad indeed.
Overall, I would give [b:The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra|18404173|The Romanov Sisters The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra|Helen Rappaport|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1396818138s/18404173.jpg|26038032] a rating of 4.25 stars out of 5 stars. Since GoodReads does not allow their readers to rate books by the half or quarter star, I simply rounded down to a solid rating of 4 stars.
They were the Princess Dianas of their day-perhaps the most photographed and talked about young royals of the early twentieth century. The four captivating Russian grand duchesses-Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia Romanova-were much admired for their happy dispositions, their looks, the clothes they wore, and their privileged lifestyle.
Over the years, the story of the four Romanov sisters and their tragic end in a basement at Ekaterinburg in 1918 had clouded our view of them, leading to a mass sentimental and idealized hagiography. From a treasure trove of dairies and letters written by the grand duchesses to their friends and family, we learned they were intelligent, sensitive, and perceptive witnesses to the dark turmoil within their immediate family and the ominous approach of the Russian Revolution, the night mare that would sweep their world away and them along with it.
[b:The Romanov Sisters|18404173|The Romanov Sisters The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra|Helen Rappaport|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1396818138s/18404173.jpg|26038032] sets out to capture the joy as well as the insecurities and poignancy of those young lives against the backdrop of the dying days of the late imperial Russia, World War I, and the Russian Revolution. Rappaport has set out to present a new and challenging take on the story, drawing extensively on previously unseen or unpublished letters, dairies, and archival sources, as well as photographs and other material in private collections. It is a book that will surprise people, even the Romanov aficionados." - Quote from inside front cover of my hardback copy of [b:The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra|18404173|The Romanov Sisters The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra|Helen Rappaport|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1396818138s/18404173.jpg|26038032]
This was the first book I have read by [a:Helen Rappaport|146124|Helen Rappaport|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1393357021p2/146124.jpg] so I was not exactly sure what to expect from her. I was pleasantly surprised when I began reading this book. [a:Helen Rappaport|146124|Helen Rappaport|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1393357021p2/146124.jpg] does an excellent job of using historical evidence to give her readers a peek into the Romanov's lives. There were times when I felt a bit embarrassed for the young duchesses, having had their dairies read, even though they had been dead for many years. I still doubt they would have wanted anyone to have read their personal and private thoughts. As I moved closer and closer to the end of the book, I obviously knew that the Romanovs were going to be murdered. I found myself feeling bad for the four young girls. They should have had their wholes lives ahead of them yet they were killed just because of what family they happened to be born into. Very sad indeed.
Overall, I would give [b:The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra|18404173|The Romanov Sisters The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra|Helen Rappaport|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1396818138s/18404173.jpg|26038032] a rating of 4.25 stars out of 5 stars. Since GoodReads does not allow their readers to rate books by the half or quarter star, I simply rounded down to a solid rating of 4 stars.
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
The Romanov Sisters was a wonderful book. Unlike most books about history this one wasn’t an info dump and it was well paced. It was nice learning about the others sisters and the mother rather then just Anastasia or Rasputin.
I love reading about The Romanov family and this book is perfect for that. Usually when you hear about this family it’s always tragic. Don’t get me wrong, it is tragic, and I think the reason that it was so tragic was because the whole book was about how they were just a family and young girls. I definitely recommend you read this.
I love reading about The Romanov family and this book is perfect for that. Usually when you hear about this family it’s always tragic. Don’t get me wrong, it is tragic, and I think the reason that it was so tragic was because the whole book was about how they were just a family and young girls. I definitely recommend you read this.
I really can't go another day without writing a review of this. I finished this the first day of the year and yet I can't muster words to really express how rewarding this is, how much I enjoyed reading this. History is one of those subjects where one either loathes it, or completely loves it. Ever since I was a young child I have been firmly placed in the latter camp; the Victorian era, the history of film and Eurovision (no laughing) seem to be my specialist subjects. I have also, since childhood and the regular viewings of Don Bluth's historically inaccurate but extremely enjoyable 1997 animation Anastasia, had a designated place in my heart for Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova, technically the last Princess of Russia before the downfall of the Romanov dynasty, though my knowledge of Anastasia only truly was made up of the most basic parts of Anastasia's Wikipedia page. When I saw this book, I knew I had to have it. However, it was only after buying did I realise that this was more a biography of all four daughters of Tsar Nicholas II, the last Tsar (King) of Russia, and their mother Alexandra (a very interesting figure by herself), father and younger brother and haemophiliac heir, Alexei. [a:Helen Rappaport|146124|Helen Rappaport|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1393357021p2/146124.jpg] is an expert in the violent, disturbing history of Russia and has already studied the close family's final days (resulting in a bloody ending in a basement in Yekaterinburg) before so if anyone is to tackle Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia's unfortunately short lives, it's her. And boy, does she do a good job. I can't recommend this book enough!! Yes, I'm not eloquent enough to put into words how excellent this is but you can just trust me, right?
Olga (November 15th 1895 - 17th July 1918)
![](<a"http://s411.photobucket.com/user/MatthewDon2002/media/Tatiana_Nikolaevna_zpspqfkm8zv.jpg.html")
Tatiana (10th June (11th after 1900) 1897 – 17 July 1918)
![](<a"http://s411.photobucket.com/user/MatthewDon2002/media/Maria19094rm_zpsogvig4mh.jpg.html")
Maria June 26 (27th after 1900) [O.S. June 14] 1899 – July 17, 1918)
![](<a"http://s411.photobucket.com/user/MatthewDon2002/media/Grand_Duchess_Anastasia_Nikolaevna_Crisco_edit_letters_removed%202_zpsdrc9mqxq.jpg.html")
Anastasia (June 18 [O.S. June 5] 1901 – July 17, 1918)
![](<a"http://s411.photobucket.com/user/MatthewDon2002/media/Russian_Imperial_Family_1911_zpshnpbecjy.jpg.html")
R.I.P
The Romanovs, 1911
Olga (November 15th 1895 - 17th July 1918)
Tatiana (10th June (11th after 1900) 1897 – 17 July 1918)
Maria June 26 (27th after 1900) [O.S. June 14] 1899 – July 17, 1918)
Anastasia (June 18 [O.S. June 5] 1901 – July 17, 1918)
R.I.P
The Romanovs, 1911
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
informative
medium-paced
A side of the Romanovs I never knew. Very interesting and sad.
informative
sad
The Romanov’s were the last imperial family of Russia before WWI caused an upheaval within the country where political unrest had already begun to bubble. Their father was the last Tsar.
This book really should be called the Romanov Family, as the reader learns a great deal about all 7 members of the family. It is an easy read and it gives a lot of insight into the history of Russia, the time period of 1890-1930, as well as pre WWI European royals.
This book really should be called the Romanov Family, as the reader learns a great deal about all 7 members of the family. It is an easy read and it gives a lot of insight into the history of Russia, the time period of 1890-1930, as well as pre WWI European royals.