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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
A fascinating and very well researched biography of Nicholas and Alexandra Romanov. Robert K. Massie is a very gifted writer. Although this is non-fiction, the author has an incredible way with words that transports you into the world of Imperial Russia and makes you feel like you're a silent observer of all the events unfolding. Massie provided background information on almost every character and even in further chapters would put a quick description of someone that was already mentioned so that helped me keep track of the names of the numerous ministers and generals. While I was reading, I couldn't help but become angry at Alexandra's obsession and naivety with Rasputin. Ministers would warn Nicholas and Alexandra of Rasputin's antics and Alexandra would treat these stories as lies and find ways to get the ministers dismissed. Nicholas on the other hand came across as likable and very kind, but meek and unassertive. Like another reader, I wondered if Nicholas had told Alexandra to stay out of politics or if Alix never married Nicky would this have never happened? Although the ending is no surprise, it was still heart-breaking to read how everything happened in Ekaterinburg. Great read for anyone interested in Russian or Royal history.
An absolutely fascinating account on the reign of the last Tsar of Russia. A compelling read from start to finish.
The author dedicated his writing career to detailing the House of Romanov and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1981 for his biography Peter the Great: His Life and World. Who is better placed to teach us about Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra?
Massie charts the childhood of the pair and as we know, upbringing shapes what people will become. The death of Nicholas' father Alexander III at the age of only 49, meant that he was not ready or indeed overly willing to be the Tsar of the Russian Empire. Perhaps it was this lack of preparedness which ultimately led to the fall of the Romanovs and the rise of bolshevism. Alexandra on the other hand, was raised primarily by her grandmother, Queen Victoria on the death of her mother and too was unprepared for her quick marriage and conversion to Russian Orthodoxy. These factors explain why she was not embraced by the Russian elite and often shied away from many of the tasks that was expected from the Tsarina.
They say opposites attract and this was certainly the case with Nicholas and Alexandra, the author shows us just how much they loved each other and their four children, the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Tsesarevich Alexei. The family were a strong unit and liked to live amongst themselves, so much so, you could easily forget that they were a powerful royal family. Massie aptly charts the personalities of all the children and you can definitely get a feel for each of the children's differing personalities. What is most interesting is the affliction of hemophilia which struck Alexei, often leaving him lingering between life and death. Due to this, Alexandra's constant worrying led her to retreat further and further into isolation from society. The genetic disorder is passed down through females to males and Queen Victoria being a carrier, meant that many males in European royal families are struck with this debilitating disorder. The secret condition of Alexei was what bought Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin into the inner circle of the Romanovs.
Alexandra believed in the mystical powers of Rasputin and firmly believed that he alone could save Alexei. Massie delves into the history of Rasputin and depicts the often sordid details of his life whilst tying in his importance to Nicholas and Alexandra.
The author weaves all the elements that contribute to the fall of the Romanovs. From providing the background of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Vladimir Lenin), the rebellions of the population due to lack of government supplies, food shortages and harsh winters, all whilst continuing to show us from the view of the Tsar and Tsarina.
As we see Imperial Russia crumble, I find myself wanting the ending to be different, despite already knowing what was to come. The closing chapters of the story are horrendous to read and leaves you feeling genuinely shocked and upset with what happened to this family. This comes from the fantastic job the author has done in reeling you into the world of the Romanovs and he successfully makes you feel that you are seeing their life first hand.
The superb writing skills displayed and the extent of Massie's knowledge all contribute to an absolutely fascinating book. I highly recommend you read this, even if you have never shown an interest in the Romanovs, this will definitely change your mind. Be prepared to not being able to put this down!
The author dedicated his writing career to detailing the House of Romanov and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1981 for his biography Peter the Great: His Life and World. Who is better placed to teach us about Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra?
Massie charts the childhood of the pair and as we know, upbringing shapes what people will become. The death of Nicholas' father Alexander III at the age of only 49, meant that he was not ready or indeed overly willing to be the Tsar of the Russian Empire. Perhaps it was this lack of preparedness which ultimately led to the fall of the Romanovs and the rise of bolshevism. Alexandra on the other hand, was raised primarily by her grandmother, Queen Victoria on the death of her mother and too was unprepared for her quick marriage and conversion to Russian Orthodoxy. These factors explain why she was not embraced by the Russian elite and often shied away from many of the tasks that was expected from the Tsarina.
They say opposites attract and this was certainly the case with Nicholas and Alexandra, the author shows us just how much they loved each other and their four children, the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Tsesarevich Alexei. The family were a strong unit and liked to live amongst themselves, so much so, you could easily forget that they were a powerful royal family. Massie aptly charts the personalities of all the children and you can definitely get a feel for each of the children's differing personalities. What is most interesting is the affliction of hemophilia which struck Alexei, often leaving him lingering between life and death. Due to this, Alexandra's constant worrying led her to retreat further and further into isolation from society. The genetic disorder is passed down through females to males and Queen Victoria being a carrier, meant that many males in European royal families are struck with this debilitating disorder. The secret condition of Alexei was what bought Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin into the inner circle of the Romanovs.
Alexandra believed in the mystical powers of Rasputin and firmly believed that he alone could save Alexei. Massie delves into the history of Rasputin and depicts the often sordid details of his life whilst tying in his importance to Nicholas and Alexandra.
The author weaves all the elements that contribute to the fall of the Romanovs. From providing the background of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Vladimir Lenin), the rebellions of the population due to lack of government supplies, food shortages and harsh winters, all whilst continuing to show us from the view of the Tsar and Tsarina.
As we see Imperial Russia crumble, I find myself wanting the ending to be different, despite already knowing what was to come. The closing chapters of the story are horrendous to read and leaves you feeling genuinely shocked and upset with what happened to this family. This comes from the fantastic job the author has done in reeling you into the world of the Romanovs and he successfully makes you feel that you are seeing their life first hand.
The superb writing skills displayed and the extent of Massie's knowledge all contribute to an absolutely fascinating book. I highly recommend you read this, even if you have never shown an interest in the Romanovs, this will definitely change your mind. Be prepared to not being able to put this down!
I LOVED this book. I couldn't put it down. Someone else should read it so we can discuss how good it is!
I really loved this book. I think it was well written and informative. But while it was informative it wasn't boring. Me not know much about the last Russian Royal family found this book to spark my interest to learn as much about them as I can.
If you are looking for an objective review of this book, this is not it. I'm a huge Romanov fangirl, so I'll probably sap my way through this entire discussion. You have been warned.
Nicholas and Alexandra. Probably one, if not my MOST favorite non fiction book ever written. I watched the 1971 film prior to reading the book. (It's actually very difficult to find Romanov literature here in Iloilo, and I had to buy my copy in a Fullybooked store in Cagayan de Oro).
The film itself is a masterpiece (nominated for several Academy Awards, but for some reason largely ignored during its time). I sat through the whole 3 hours, enthralled and horrified with how things played out, helpless to the tragedy unfolding before my eyes. When the credits rolled, and I discovered that the movie was based on a book, I knew I HAD to find it.
I've been interested in the Romanovs for as long as I can remember. Like most 90s kids, I too watched the lovely (but very historically inaccurate) non-Disney (!!!) film, Anastasia. I wondered then what might have happened to her family, since the circumstances surrounding their deaths wasn't fully explored in the film. I had thought that Rasputin killed them with his dark magic. It wasn't until I was older, and acquainted with Google, that I discovered the very real horror of their cold blooded murders. (And also the fact that Anastasia did not survive, like the film suggests. I was heartbroken).
After that, you'd think I'd finally quit investing my time thinking about them. Oh, no. My seemingly harmless interest in them soon grew into an obsession.
Nicholas and Alexandra seemed to be destined for tragedy. They were teetering on the edge of disaster the moment they met, and each event that followed suit seemed to push them closer, inch by inch, until they eventually plummeted to their doom. It's a horrible thing, really, to see it all unfold. You wish you could do something to stop the ball rolling, but it seems to go faster and faster as time goes on.
I wonder if they had chosen differently, if they had not fallen so deeply and truly in love with each other, would the dynasty have survived? You know what, the answer would probably yes.
But that wasn't the case.
In the beginning, the book details the beauty and splendor of Imperial Russia so intricately, that you cannot help but feel a sense of loss and helplessness, knowing that most of the things described here are lost forever. It was the time of great riches, a time where Russia revolved around God, Tsar, and Country.
Nicholas II was ill prepared for the throne. He did not know how to rule as an autocrat, period. Whether you can blame his tutors, his upbringing, the untimely death of his father, or any other factor that could have contributed to his demise, the fact remains. Nicholas was the wrong tsar, at the wrong time. Though he was a good person: God-fearing, charming, kind, a real family man, the moment he ascended to the throne, his fate, the fate of his beautiful family, the fate of Russia and the world, seemed sealed.
I wish I can go on with my review but thinking about them too much depresses me. Please read the book to understand why I feel this way.
Nicholas and Alexandra. Probably one, if not my MOST favorite non fiction book ever written. I watched the 1971 film prior to reading the book. (It's actually very difficult to find Romanov literature here in Iloilo, and I had to buy my copy in a Fullybooked store in Cagayan de Oro).
The film itself is a masterpiece (nominated for several Academy Awards, but for some reason largely ignored during its time). I sat through the whole 3 hours, enthralled and horrified with how things played out, helpless to the tragedy unfolding before my eyes. When the credits rolled, and I discovered that the movie was based on a book, I knew I HAD to find it.
I've been interested in the Romanovs for as long as I can remember. Like most 90s kids, I too watched the lovely (but very historically inaccurate) non-Disney (!!!) film, Anastasia. I wondered then what might have happened to her family, since the circumstances surrounding their deaths wasn't fully explored in the film. I had thought that Rasputin killed them with his dark magic. It wasn't until I was older, and acquainted with Google, that I discovered the very real horror of their cold blooded murders. (And also the fact that Anastasia did not survive, like the film suggests. I was heartbroken).
After that, you'd think I'd finally quit investing my time thinking about them. Oh, no. My seemingly harmless interest in them soon grew into an obsession.
Nicholas and Alexandra seemed to be destined for tragedy. They were teetering on the edge of disaster the moment they met, and each event that followed suit seemed to push them closer, inch by inch, until they eventually plummeted to their doom. It's a horrible thing, really, to see it all unfold. You wish you could do something to stop the ball rolling, but it seems to go faster and faster as time goes on.
I wonder if they had chosen differently, if they had not fallen so deeply and truly in love with each other, would the dynasty have survived? You know what, the answer would probably yes.
But that wasn't the case.
In the beginning, the book details the beauty and splendor of Imperial Russia so intricately, that you cannot help but feel a sense of loss and helplessness, knowing that most of the things described here are lost forever. It was the time of great riches, a time where Russia revolved around God, Tsar, and Country.
Nicholas II was ill prepared for the throne. He did not know how to rule as an autocrat, period. Whether you can blame his tutors, his upbringing, the untimely death of his father, or any other factor that could have contributed to his demise, the fact remains. Nicholas was the wrong tsar, at the wrong time. Though he was a good person: God-fearing, charming, kind, a real family man, the moment he ascended to the throne, his fate, the fate of his beautiful family, the fate of Russia and the world, seemed sealed.
I wish I can go on with my review but thinking about them too much depresses me. Please read the book to understand why I feel this way.
This is a fascinating history of the final years of the Romanov dynasty.
This is one of those books that I have been meaning to read for what feels like forever, and now I finally have I wish I'd read it earlier. Massie is one of those authors who makes history not feel like history - he really brings it to life and makes it feel real and immediate. Reading this book, I really felt like I was reading about people, real flesh and blood people with thoughts and feelings and dreams. Too often history reduces people to 'historical figures', cyphers for the great events surrounding them.
And I liked these people, especially Nicholas. He definitely seems like one of those figures from history for whom inheriting a crown was possibly the worst thing for him. He reminds me of King Stephen in a lot of ways - he lost so much when he won the crown. Nicholas comes across as such a good kind man - a loving husband, a wonderful father, a man who truly and deeply loved hisw country and wanted the best for her. But he was not a good Tsar, he was not a good leader. I found myself reading this book with increasing dread, knowing what was coming and wanting it to be different, for his sake.
What I found most fascinating about this book is how history can come down to the smallest of things. 'For the want of a nail', and all that. That one small boy's suffering and misfortune could shape the fate of the world... With Alexis' haemophilia there would have been no Rasputin; without his influence Alexandra would not have interfered in government so much; there would have been more stability, and the hatred that deflected from her to the rest of the family wouldn't have been so vicious and corrosive; had Nicholas not felt he needed to fight for his son's inheritance because his son was too weak to do it himself, Russia might have drifted naturally from autocracy to the kind of constitutional monarchy that England had. Had the monarchy not fallen there would have been no Revolution, no Bolsheviks, no Lenin and Stalin, no Soviet Union - and who knows what the world would have been then?
And I liked these people, especially Nicholas. He definitely seems like one of those figures from history for whom inheriting a crown was possibly the worst thing for him. He reminds me of King Stephen in a lot of ways - he lost so much when he won the crown. Nicholas comes across as such a good kind man - a loving husband, a wonderful father, a man who truly and deeply loved hisw country and wanted the best for her. But he was not a good Tsar, he was not a good leader. I found myself reading this book with increasing dread, knowing what was coming and wanting it to be different, for his sake.
What I found most fascinating about this book is how history can come down to the smallest of things. 'For the want of a nail', and all that. That one small boy's suffering and misfortune could shape the fate of the world... With Alexis' haemophilia there would have been no Rasputin; without his influence Alexandra would not have interfered in government so much; there would have been more stability, and the hatred that deflected from her to the rest of the family wouldn't have been so vicious and corrosive; had Nicholas not felt he needed to fight for his son's inheritance because his son was too weak to do it himself, Russia might have drifted naturally from autocracy to the kind of constitutional monarchy that England had. Had the monarchy not fallen there would have been no Revolution, no Bolsheviks, no Lenin and Stalin, no Soviet Union - and who knows what the world would have been then?
Despite its initial publication in 1967 (and thus the book closes on a musing of where the bodies of the last tsar and his family could be), 'Nicholas and Alexandra' still holds steadfast as the defining account of one of the most tragic and fascinating royal families in history. Scholarship since then, revealed since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989 and the discovery of the remains of Nicholas II and his family and retinue in 1991 and 2007, has only enhanced this book's eternal importance to the field of Romanov studies.
OK so I know that historically when a queen or empress is blamed for her husband's downfall it's usually plain old sexism but can we make at least a partial exception for Tsarina Alexandra because she was literallythe worst?
Now that I got that out of the way...
There are some historical events that just capture public imagination and don't let go (the sinking of the Titanic for instance). The downfall and execution of the Russian royal family is definitely one of these and it's really not hard to see why. It's got all the makings of a fantastic drama - tragedy, glamour, romance, mystery and above all else it's simply just all-out bizarre. It's also, arguably, one of the most historically significant moments of the modern world (along with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Hitler taking over the Reichstag). It's really difficult to see where history would have gone had Nicholas II not been deposed, but it's really easy to see what wouldn't have happened. The disappearance of the Soviet Union would have changed the entire twentieth century.
This account is rightly considered a classic, and it's easy to see where much of the popular image of Nicholas and his family come from. The image of the family-centered Russian Tsar is one that's come down through the years, and it's probably due a lot to this account. Certainly it was based in truth - Nicholas and his wife were deeply in love, unusually for royal couples, and they were highly focused on their family and not just because of their son's hemophilia. That's one of the things this book does very well - you absolutely feel like you know these people when you've finished this book, and because the characters (and the children) are genuinely tragic and sympathetic figures you start to wonder whether it would really have been so bad to let Tsar Nicholas retire quietly to the Crimea or Livadia with his family, or escape to asylum in England.
That's where this (admittedly out of date) account falls a little short. The author doesn't hide the various atrocities Nicholas was responsible for but while acknowledging them, he does sort of hurry past them as if it wasn't really what he was interested in or they were somehow inevitable because of the events happening around the Tsar instead of as a result of his own decisions (or, you know, lack thereof. Nicholas was a lot of things but a decision-maker he was NOT). Yes, much of Russia's problems went back much farther than Nicholas's reign but he was a more active player than this account would have you believe and Massie does sort of gloss over things like Nicholas's stupid decision to sign a treaty with Germany against his ally France as if they couldn't be helped. Or the way he held a party after the massacre at his coronation. I still maintain that he and Alexandra should have stood trial for what they were accused of and that the children should have been granted asylum in England (the other thing this account does is let George V and the British government mostly off the hook for not pushing harder to rescue their Russian cousins, which I will grant is partly because the documents telling the full story were still classified at the time of publication).
The same holds true for Rasputin, who he does portray in all his bizarre fame only to then sort of excuse the multiple rape allegations against him. In all fairness the book was written in 1967 but reading it in 2020, this does NOT look good. It also only serves to make Alexandra look worse, which is really saying something, because there he doesn't gloss over her terrible decisions at all. I knew that she bordered on religiously delusional and should never have been allowed anywhere near power at all but being taken through her decisions really throws into focus how much the entire calamity really could have been avoided, simply by not picking Cabinet members based solely on whether they liked Rasputin or not. She's a genuinely sympathetic figure in many ways but this book really makes it clear why so many people absolutely hated her.
And that is really where the books succeeds. I've never read a nonfiction book that captures the atmosphere of a time and place so well. You feel the charged atmosphere of St. Petersburg, straining through years of terrible leadership and war. You also feel the cloistered atmosphere of the palace that meant the Imperial family was so closed off from the country they had no idea how to rule it. You feel the vastness of the Russian steppes and the loneliness of Siberia, the prison of the houses they were taken to and the tense atmosphere of raising Tsarevich Alexei. It's incredibly evocative.
There are, of course, some factors that are out of date. When the book was published the Soviet Union was still a strong world power and many of the players in this drama were still alive. Many more were still in living memory. The book ends with the discovery of the remains of the Tsar's family, but of course the last two bodies were not discovered at all until 2007, so rumors were still flying at the time of publication that one or more of the children had escaped. Even so, there were things I hadn't known. I didn't know, for example, that Lenin was spirited through Germany by the Kaiser and the German government to weaken Russia after the Revolution. That changes EVERYTHING as far as I'm concerned, and it's really remarkable how little remembered the Kaiser is at this point in time (getting overshadowed by the sheer outright evil of the next generation of German leaders will do that) but he really was a piece of work.
Still a highly recommended account, even with the couple of caveats I mentioned. It's probably best read along with more recent accounts of the Revolution and the deaths of the family. Luckily the history is interesting enough that when you're done with this you'll probably only want to read more about it.
Now that I got that out of the way...
There are some historical events that just capture public imagination and don't let go (the sinking of the Titanic for instance). The downfall and execution of the Russian royal family is definitely one of these and it's really not hard to see why. It's got all the makings of a fantastic drama - tragedy, glamour, romance, mystery and above all else it's simply just all-out bizarre. It's also, arguably, one of the most historically significant moments of the modern world (along with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Hitler taking over the Reichstag). It's really difficult to see where history would have gone had Nicholas II not been deposed, but it's really easy to see what wouldn't have happened. The disappearance of the Soviet Union would have changed the entire twentieth century.
This account is rightly considered a classic, and it's easy to see where much of the popular image of Nicholas and his family come from. The image of the family-centered Russian Tsar is one that's come down through the years, and it's probably due a lot to this account. Certainly it was based in truth - Nicholas and his wife were deeply in love, unusually for royal couples, and they were highly focused on their family and not just because of their son's hemophilia. That's one of the things this book does very well - you absolutely feel like you know these people when you've finished this book, and because the characters (and the children) are genuinely tragic and sympathetic figures you start to wonder whether it would really have been so bad to let Tsar Nicholas retire quietly to the Crimea or Livadia with his family, or escape to asylum in England.
That's where this (admittedly out of date) account falls a little short. The author doesn't hide the various atrocities Nicholas was responsible for but while acknowledging them, he does sort of hurry past them as if it wasn't really what he was interested in or they were somehow inevitable because of the events happening around the Tsar instead of as a result of his own decisions (or, you know, lack thereof. Nicholas was a lot of things but a decision-maker he was NOT). Yes, much of Russia's problems went back much farther than Nicholas's reign but he was a more active player than this account would have you believe and Massie does sort of gloss over things like Nicholas's stupid decision to sign a treaty with Germany against his ally France as if they couldn't be helped. Or the way he held a party after the massacre at his coronation. I still maintain that he and Alexandra should have stood trial for what they were accused of and that the children should have been granted asylum in England (the other thing this account does is let George V and the British government mostly off the hook for not pushing harder to rescue their Russian cousins, which I will grant is partly because the documents telling the full story were still classified at the time of publication).
The same holds true for Rasputin, who he does portray in all his bizarre fame only to then sort of excuse the multiple rape allegations against him. In all fairness the book was written in 1967 but reading it in 2020, this does NOT look good. It also only serves to make Alexandra look worse, which is really saying something, because there he doesn't gloss over her terrible decisions at all. I knew that she bordered on religiously delusional and should never have been allowed anywhere near power at all but being taken through her decisions really throws into focus how much the entire calamity really could have been avoided, simply by not picking Cabinet members based solely on whether they liked Rasputin or not. She's a genuinely sympathetic figure in many ways but this book really makes it clear why so many people absolutely hated her.
And that is really where the books succeeds. I've never read a nonfiction book that captures the atmosphere of a time and place so well. You feel the charged atmosphere of St. Petersburg, straining through years of terrible leadership and war. You also feel the cloistered atmosphere of the palace that meant the Imperial family was so closed off from the country they had no idea how to rule it. You feel the vastness of the Russian steppes and the loneliness of Siberia, the prison of the houses they were taken to and the tense atmosphere of raising Tsarevich Alexei. It's incredibly evocative.
There are, of course, some factors that are out of date. When the book was published the Soviet Union was still a strong world power and many of the players in this drama were still alive. Many more were still in living memory. The book ends with the discovery of the remains of the Tsar's family, but of course the last two bodies were not discovered at all until 2007, so rumors were still flying at the time of publication that one or more of the children had escaped. Even so, there were things I hadn't known. I didn't know, for example, that Lenin was spirited through Germany by the Kaiser and the German government to weaken Russia after the Revolution. That changes EVERYTHING as far as I'm concerned, and it's really remarkable how little remembered the Kaiser is at this point in time (getting overshadowed by the sheer outright evil of the next generation of German leaders will do that) but he really was a piece of work.
Still a highly recommended account, even with the couple of caveats I mentioned. It's probably best read along with more recent accounts of the Revolution and the deaths of the family. Luckily the history is interesting enough that when you're done with this you'll probably only want to read more about it.
A really comprehensive and captivating read. Massie's writing is very engaging and easy to understand making it very hard to put the book down. But since it was first written in 1967 some of the language felt rather off to a modern audience and some of the information becomes inaccurate from what we have sense learned about, specifically the parts during the October Revolution and to the deaths of the Romanovs, through the fall of the USSR and the discovery of the Romanovs bodies.
On the whole a really great biography and a great place to start if you are interested in learning more about the end of the Romanov dynasty and the reason for their downfall.
On the whole a really great biography and a great place to start if you are interested in learning more about the end of the Romanov dynasty and the reason for their downfall.