A review by leighannsherwin
The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg by Helen Rappaport

5.0

After finishing The Romanov Sisters, The Last Days of the Romanovs seemed a logical choice for my next read. It picks up virtually where The Romanov Sisters left off. The book is told in a countdown form, with each chapter representing one day. It describes the background of each of the main players in the story, from Nicholas and Alexandra to their children, Dr. Botkin, and even the backgrounds of their future assassins and communist leaders. This is a very honest account of the end of the Romanov dynasty. For years the family has been painted as devoted and happy and loving and finally Rappaport breaks this down by showing their human side. I mean think about I love my family a great deal too but there are times they drive me mad and the same is true with the Romanovs. They were trapped in a house with little room to exercise, the windows sealed and painted over and in the middle of the summer heat. I'm sure more than a few tempers flared during their last days. I liked the varied perspectives given, from George V in England to Lenin in Moscow and even Woodrow Wilson in America and the introduction of a truly amazing woman Maria Bochkareva, who asked the Tsar for the right to fight on the front with the men and ending up leading an all female battalion, someone who seems to have been lost to history sadly. Day by day the story counts down and you see all sides of it. The end is not for the faint of heart for sure as it is the most graphic account of the murders I think I have read. Even the guards and the shooters were disgusted by what they had done. Some said that after the Tsar and Tsarina were shot most didn't have the guts to kill the children, but ultimately in the chaos of the room no one was sure who shot who. The story ends with a description of how the Romanov family has been romanticized over the years, turned into saints and martyrs. She touches on the Anna Anderson saga and about the recent (then in 2006) finding of the last two bodies. The book was very engaging, and offered new insights, I like learning not just about the Romanov family but also about their guards and what was going on behind the scenes to decide the fate of this family and is a perfect companion to The Romanov Sisters.