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A review by mooijman
Nicholas and Alexandra: The Classic Account of the Fall of the Romanov Dynasty by Robert K. Massie
5.0
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)”