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A review by jeremyanderberg
Nicholas and Alexandra: The Classic Account of the Fall of the Romanov Dynasty by Robert K. Massie
5.0
“It is one of the supreme ironies of history that the blessed birth of an only son should have proved the mortal blow. Even as the saluting cannons boomed and the flags waved, Fate had prepared a terrible story. Along with the lost battles and sunken ships, the bombs, the revolutionaries and their plots, the strikes and revolts, Imperial Russia was toppled by a tiny defect in the body of a little boy.”
I can think of only a few writers who can craft a narrative as well as what Robert Massie accomplished in his 1967 biography of the last Tsar of Russia. From the very first page I was hooked by his writing style and ability to zero in on the details of a family while also zooming out to show the national and global consequences of seemingly insignificant events.
Of course, Massie benefits from his subject being one of the most surprising, captivating, head-shaking stories in all of history.
The Romanovs had been ruling Russia for hundreds of years; when Alexander III died unexpectedly in 1894, his son Nicholas II took the throne. He married Princess Alexandra of Germany, one of Queen Victoria’s favorite granddaughters. They had four girls before producing an heir to the throne in Alexis. The happy parents were quick to discover, however, that Alexis suffered from hemophilia — in which the blood does not clot properly. In the early 20th century, it was a devastating and deadly diagnosis; a nose bleed or a sprained ankle could kill him.
And then the fabled Rasputin came along — the ultimate wolf in sheep’s clothing. Part holy man, part philanderer, he seduced Alexandra (not literally, contrary to some popular belief) into believing he was the only man who could help her son. Eventually, though, his voice became too loud in Russian affairs, especially in the midst of WWI and the coinciding rise in socialism/communism in greater Russia.
I’m required by my own self-imposed writing limitations to skip some important steps, but ultimately, Lenin’s regime massacred the entire family and the Romanov’s centuries-long reign came to a swift and brutal end.
When you combine a story as intensely dramatic as that with Massie’s ability to just write the hell out of it, you get a book — and characters — that will stick with you for ages. I can’t wait to read Massie’s other Russian histories. This is truly an all-time great biography.
I can think of only a few writers who can craft a narrative as well as what Robert Massie accomplished in his 1967 biography of the last Tsar of Russia. From the very first page I was hooked by his writing style and ability to zero in on the details of a family while also zooming out to show the national and global consequences of seemingly insignificant events.
Of course, Massie benefits from his subject being one of the most surprising, captivating, head-shaking stories in all of history.
The Romanovs had been ruling Russia for hundreds of years; when Alexander III died unexpectedly in 1894, his son Nicholas II took the throne. He married Princess Alexandra of Germany, one of Queen Victoria’s favorite granddaughters. They had four girls before producing an heir to the throne in Alexis. The happy parents were quick to discover, however, that Alexis suffered from hemophilia — in which the blood does not clot properly. In the early 20th century, it was a devastating and deadly diagnosis; a nose bleed or a sprained ankle could kill him.
And then the fabled Rasputin came along — the ultimate wolf in sheep’s clothing. Part holy man, part philanderer, he seduced Alexandra (not literally, contrary to some popular belief) into believing he was the only man who could help her son. Eventually, though, his voice became too loud in Russian affairs, especially in the midst of WWI and the coinciding rise in socialism/communism in greater Russia.
I’m required by my own self-imposed writing limitations to skip some important steps, but ultimately, Lenin’s regime massacred the entire family and the Romanov’s centuries-long reign came to a swift and brutal end.
When you combine a story as intensely dramatic as that with Massie’s ability to just write the hell out of it, you get a book — and characters — that will stick with you for ages. I can’t wait to read Massie’s other Russian histories. This is truly an all-time great biography.