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236 reviews for:
Nicolau e Alexandra: O relato clássico da queda da dinastia Romanov
Robert K. Massie, Angela Lobo de Andrade
4.28 AVERAGE
236 reviews for:
Nicolau e Alexandra: O relato clássico da queda da dinastia Romanov
Robert K. Massie, Angela Lobo de Andrade
4.28 AVERAGE
I’ve read a notable amount of fiction featuring the Romanovs, but did not know more than the main details of what actually happened. While not an easy or light read, this book was well written and moving.
A super eloquent and well researched must-read for anyone interested in the Romanov family and the fall of Imperial Russia.
adventurous
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
The last Romanovs are similar to the Roman Empire - once you've heard about their tragic fate, you can't stop thinking about it. Massie brings the family back to life in his comprehensive and deeply emotional account of the fall of one of the mightiest European royal dynasties. He managed to create an immensly intricate tapestry of the last decades of the Russian Empire, he doesn't talk exclusively about the imperial family; instead, he introduces a plethora of Russian historic figures, engages into detailed descriptions of tectonic changes in the country.
What makes the book absolutely unputdownable is Massie's deep and sincere sympathy for the last Romanovs. He acknowledges all their shortcomings as rulers, he never fails to mention their personal flaws, but every time he does that he makes sure he's done his best to provide the most nuanced context for each decision the imperial couple took, he never says they did something wrong without explaining why they opted for this or that option in the first place. The thing is that all this never feels like an excuse - it feels like a genuine attempt at explaining and making readers see the dying Russian Empire through their eyes.
It does, though, seem that at times Massie gets carried away with intricacies of politics rather than keeping his focus on the imperial family. It would've been great to have more time dedicated to the children: the four grand duchesses get completely overshadowed by the tsarevich, who, in turn, is almost solely talked about in the context of his medical condition. The titular couple is shown parenting the son, yet their relationships with the daughters stay somewhat vague.
Massie has a curious tendency to transliterate Russian words which don't necessarily have equivalents with proper connotations in English (moujik, starets, etc.), which brings a certain degree of exoticism to the text. However, there's an inexplicable inconsistency with Russian names: on the very same page there might be two different spellings for the tsarevich's name - Alexis and Alexei; Sergei Witte became Sergius, the Russian name Evgeni(y) took its English form Eugine, and the grand duchess Maria acquired the French name Marie. The reason behind this mess might have been in Massie's desire to make the names sound familiar to an English-speaking audience, yet if he had already taken pains with transliterating untranslatable Russian words, what was the problem with transliterating proper names in the way which would more or less leave their original pronunciation untouched?
Nicholas and Alexandra is a captivating story of the lost empire and never-ending love. It's a book which reminds you that history is stranger, more passionate and powerful than fiction.
What makes the book absolutely unputdownable is Massie's deep and sincere sympathy for the last Romanovs. He acknowledges all their shortcomings as rulers, he never fails to mention their personal flaws, but every time he does that he makes sure he's done his best to provide the most nuanced context for each decision the imperial couple took, he never says they did something wrong without explaining why they opted for this or that option in the first place. The thing is that all this never feels like an excuse - it feels like a genuine attempt at explaining and making readers see the dying Russian Empire through their eyes.
It does, though, seem that at times Massie gets carried away with intricacies of politics rather than keeping his focus on the imperial family. It would've been great to have more time dedicated to the children: the four grand duchesses get completely overshadowed by the tsarevich, who, in turn, is almost solely talked about in the context of his medical condition. The titular couple is shown parenting the son, yet their relationships with the daughters stay somewhat vague.
Massie has a curious tendency to transliterate Russian words which don't necessarily have equivalents with proper connotations in English (moujik, starets, etc.), which brings a certain degree of exoticism to the text. However, there's an inexplicable inconsistency with Russian names: on the very same page there might be two different spellings for the tsarevich's name - Alexis and Alexei; Sergei Witte became Sergius, the Russian name Evgeni(y) took its English form Eugine, and the grand duchess Maria acquired the French name Marie. The reason behind this mess might have been in Massie's desire to make the names sound familiar to an English-speaking audience, yet if he had already taken pains with transliterating untranslatable Russian words, what was the problem with transliterating proper names in the way which would more or less leave their original pronunciation untouched?
Nicholas and Alexandra is a captivating story of the lost empire and never-ending love. It's a book which reminds you that history is stranger, more passionate and powerful than fiction.
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Very dense and informative, but easy to understand and engaging. One of the most comprehensive nonfiction I’ve read
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
After reading the masterpiece “Peter the Great” of Robert K. Massie, I had the pleasure of reading another amazing book written by him “Nicholas and Alexandra”.
Normally I am not that interested in this part of history but trusting Robert as one of my favorite writers I gave it a change.
Robert again made this book readable for a guy who has problems remembering Russian names. It is told in chronological order in a way that is completely understandable for anyone. The stories, letters and anecdotes make this book come to life.
The detailed stories of some events during this book (no spoilers) are truly catching.
How the Romanovs came to power, were in decline, made wrong decisions, accepted Rasputin, were then in steep decline and than ending up butchered in a basement somewhere in Russia is a story of something else.
I like Nicholas as a person but as a leader he was to weak. There was one anecdote which was truly awesome and it goes like:
“In their childhood, Nicholas admired Georges (his brother) sense of humor, and whenever his brother made a joke, the future Czar carefully wrote it on a piece of paper and kept it in a box. Years later, when people heard Nicholas laughing alone in his study, he was rereading the collection of Georges jokes. (Georges would die several years later of TBC)”
Normally I am not that interested in this part of history but trusting Robert as one of my favorite writers I gave it a change.
Robert again made this book readable for a guy who has problems remembering Russian names. It is told in chronological order in a way that is completely understandable for anyone. The stories, letters and anecdotes make this book come to life.
The detailed stories of some events during this book (no spoilers) are truly catching.
How the Romanovs came to power, were in decline, made wrong decisions, accepted Rasputin, were then in steep decline and than ending up butchered in a basement somewhere in Russia is a story of something else.
I like Nicholas as a person but as a leader he was to weak. There was one anecdote which was truly awesome and it goes like:
“In their childhood, Nicholas admired Georges (his brother) sense of humor, and whenever his brother made a joke, the future Czar carefully wrote it on a piece of paper and kept it in a box. Years later, when people heard Nicholas laughing alone in his study, he was rereading the collection of Georges jokes. (Georges would die several years later of TBC)”
informative
medium-paced
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
Read this book for class and it does it good job challenging history and using first person accounts of events while the author puts his own perspective on this point in history