A review by anovelstart
Rasputin and His Russian Queen: The True Story of Grigory and Alexandra by Mickey Mayhew

slow-paced

1.0

 

Thank you, NetGalley for providing a copy of this book for review. My opinions are my own.

Mayhew has used a wide range of sources, from books to media sources. This is evident in the way they write.

The book was easy to follow due to its story-like structure, however, I felt that this format also gave it some downsides.

Although there are references in the book, I don’t think there are enough as many facts or statements do not have in-text references, citations, or footnotes. It is clear that the book has been thoroughly researched through a variety of sources, but I would have preferred a direct reference to each source so I could see exactly where they got it from. This makes it easier to judge the argument the historian is making and weigh its pros and cons.

Without citations, it’s hard to distinguish between fact and opinion as the book is written in a fiction-like format, reading more like a story. There are dialogues between characters that do not have a citation showing which source the evidence came from. This made me very hesitant to believe the contents of the book because there weren’t any citations to show that they did nod their heads, squeeze another person’s hands, or extinguish cigarettes.

Furthermore, for a history book, I found it lacked debate and analysis. Traditionally, when a historian puts forward an argument, they make a statement, discuss both sides of the debate as it stands, and then they give their own interpretation. Their interpretation may include further evidence towards their side of the argument. I felt that this book wasn’t structured in a way that would allow for this because it was formatted like a story. It would have broken the pacing of the book.

Overall, I rate it 1/5 stars because I cannot tell what is speculation or fact for most of the book. When I read a nonfiction book, I want to know where the argument is coming from. I like the analysis side of history books. If this were categorised as a well-researched historical fiction novel, I would have rated it 4/5 because the dialogue can be quite well thought-out. This can’t be used as an academic history book but could be useful as an outline for non-academic purposes.

 

Would I recommend it? No. Not unless you treat it as historical fiction or more citations are added.