Reviews

• The Suspenseful Story of the Last Tsar of Russia

  Nicholas II of Russia never wanted to be Tsar. However, he was forced into the position after his father died. After a mourning period, Nicholas married his beloved Alexandra and she gave birth to 5 children: Olga, Tatiana, Marie, Anastasia, and Alexei. However, Alexei proves to be a threat to the public image of the empire due to his hemophilia as people began to question Alexei’s ability to lead the empire after his father’s reign is over. Furthermore, turmoil is engulfing the regular citizens of Russia. As vengeance for his father’s assassination by the Russian people, Nicholas’s father had placed the people in poverty to the point that starving to death was an everyday occurance. After Nicholas became tsar, the people were outraged by his apathy towards the peasants and started to protest, causing Nicholas to order the guards to open fire on the protesters. Things came to a head during WWI in which Russia became even more impoverished and Russian enemies were slaughtering Russian troops. To make matters worse, Nicholas proved an incompetent military commander, resulting in several more losses. Alexandra began ruling in his place, appointing her friend and mystic, Rasputin, to the throne. Rasputin was a famed womanizer and manipulated Alexandra to make decisions that benefited him. Combined with the incompetent rule by the Emperor and Empress, the poverty of Russia, the frail heir to the throne, and the deadly nature of WWI, the people began to consider the overthrow of the empire. Will the tsar be able to right his wrongs and keep his throne or will a 300 year old empire come tumbling down? I decided to read “The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion and the Fall of Imperial Russia” by Candance Fleming as I like to research monarchies and find the Romanov family especially fascinating. From a Russian holy man who claims to predict the future to the family’s eventual executions, their story reads out like a Shakespearean tragedy in real life. I believe that the novel is a good read due to its characterization of the Romanov children, the use of suspense throughout the novel, and the accounts regarding Russian peasants throughout the novel. First of all, Fleming did a fantastic job on the characterization of the Romanov children. Whilst many people seem to know about the tsar and tsarina’s background and life stories, they typically tend to view the Romanov children as just unfortunate victims of the Communist takeover. Not many people, however, examined their personalities and viewed them as separate people. Fleming did just that! She examined each of them and gave them their own personalities and managed to make them relatable. Olga was the oldest Grand Duchess who bore the burden of taking care of her siblings and became emotionally unstable due to the stress of WWI and the Russian Revolution. Tatiana was the most beautiful and was her parents’ favorite child due to being the most mature. Marie was the middle child who had to bear the burden of feeling like her parents cared more about her siblings than her. Anastasia was the troublemaker who initially acted selfish and spoiled, but later redeemed herself by nursing for Russian soldiers during WWI and even repurposing her castles in order to home and care for these injured soldiers. Alexei was the sickly child who longed for adventure, but was forbidden by his parents from doing the most basic activities (such as biking and playing sports) due to bleeding being life-threatening for him due to his hemophilia. Next, I really liked the narrator’s use of suspense in the story in order to foreshadow the impending doom of the imperial family. For example, when Empress Alexandra heard the news of WWI erupting, she remembered a telegram from Rasputin saying that “dark clouds” would loom over the monarchy if war erupted, causing her to weep. Rasputin was foreshadowing that Russia would face difficult times during WWI. Indeed, the war eventually caused the public to lose faith in the tsar due to his incompetent role as a military commander. The final thing I want to discuss about this book is how the narrator repeatedly uses written accounts of Russian peasants within the course of the novel in order to give real-life examples of the harsh conditions that they faced under Nicholas’s rule. These accounts include a student describing the death of his beloved mother from starvation and a soldier writing a farewell letter to his wife upon realizing the true brutality of WWI. These accounts showcase the dire nature of Russia during Nicholas’s reign and their anger on the Tsar for doing nothing to address their problems. “The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion and the Fall of Imperial Russia” by Candace Fleming is a suspenseful book describing the fall of the Russian royal family. The characters are very well written with multifaceted and well explored personalities,and, as shown with Anastasia, character development. The suspense throughout the story is skillfully added to further foreshadow the fall of the Russian Empire and the accounts of the Russian people demonstrate the hardships the Russian people endured during this time. Overall, if you want to discover the story about how a single couple toppled an empire, this book is a must-read!

• Well done!

  Great info, well written, up to date.

• Hard to put down

  Compelling. History written like a novel. Gutted that I’ve finished it

• Tragic ending to many innocent people that could EASILY have been avoided.

  i have always been fascinated by the Romanov family since I was a teenager and I finally got to to watch some documentaries on them and now read this book. The authour did a fantastic job in writing this book and i can see blame everywhere now, from the Tsar’s wife, to her lunatic spitutal advisor, to the Tsar himself and then of course to the english royal family who refused them immunity. A whole family and children slaughtered for nothing. It got the bolshevism nowhere anyway and then hitler slaughtered a lot of them. They still haven’t learnt their lessons. Highly recommend.

• Absolutely worth reading!!!

  The Family Romanov The Family Romanov by Candace Fleming is absolutely a book worth reading. What seems like an ordinary novel is in fact a nonfiction books with true stories and letters incorporated in a way that makes the book extremely interesting to read. The book starts by describing the life of the angry and discontented peasants and factory workers, who at this time make up 98.5 % of Russia, versus the life of the old families whose ancient ancestors once ruled the land. You get to know the Royal family themselves and the secret sickness the new heir Alexi has. After many failed attempts they take help from Rasputin, who seemingly cures the little prince for the time being. This is how Rasputin later gets the power to influence the Royal Family including the Tsar. The Tsar doesn't listen to his advisors but he does listen to his wife Alexandra, who’s ideas mostly come from Rasputin. The poor people of Russia start striking for better treatment, but when this is met by violence from the government they retaliate. Somewhere in the middle of the book the first World War breaks out which causes more people to lose faith in the Tsar. Because they are so discontent and angry at the Tsar, rebel groups get support and end up taking hold of the power and putting the royal family on house arrest. The book ends with the royal family being brutally murdered by the rebels and Lenin taking control. Lenin now introduces Communism and the lives of the Russians’ deteriorate more to their disappointment.

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