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gracemacandrew 's review for:
Nicholas and Alexandra: The Classic Account of the Fall of the Romanov Dynasty
by Robert K. Massie
Robert Massie is, of course, a spectacular historian. The material he has here is fascinating enough. Add to that his exacting scholarship and his ability to weave a story. He is rather more dry than David McCullough or Doris Kearns Goodwin. And if I had to choose one word to describe this biography, it would be "exhaustive" in every sense. But I really enjoyed learning about the Romanovs and their absolutely heartbreaking end. The Russian names here start to blur into obscurity. But the best parts of the book are when Massie handles the royal family--the tsar, his wife, and their children--and their daily lives. The portrait of Rasputin in particular is electrifying--what a strange, unearthly man! Massie binds up the story of the last Romanovs with common themes including, sadly, the effect of hemophilia on the heir--a boy who died at thirteen--and consequently on the history of an entire nation. For bone-deep adherents to democracy, it is startling how effective Massie is at making you sympathize with an absolute monarch and his family.