Flight of the Romanovs Review

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(More customer reviews)As a history fan I am of course familiar with the tragic tale of the fall of the Romanovs and the killings of Nicholas and Alexandra and their children. And of course I was aware that the Romanovs were quite a sprawling family, with lots of Grand Dukes and Duchesses, but I did not know a great deal about these individuals, who are all equally fascinating in their own right - and often even more so, as Nicholas and Alexandra enjoyed a quiet life.
The book commences with the assasination of Alexander II and the ascent to the throne of his son Alexander III. From here we get to know of the young Nicki (later to be Tsar) and his other siblings, including Olga, who had a life of some hardship but did not complain until she died in her 80s. The book covers the revoltion of course, but for those readers wanting to know more about that and the impact on the immediate royal family, I recommend Robert Massie's excellent "Nicholas and Alexandra". What I found of more interest was how the extended royal family fared, some being executed the Bolsheviks, some enduring amazing hardship and escapes, and others being saved by sheer luck.
The final part of the book deals with the remaining Romanovs in exile, and examines the interaction with the competing family groups and individuals who laid claim to the now empty throne. These characters include Kyrill, who is the ancestor of George, the current claimant, and Dimitri, the ultimate playboy who had an affair with Coco Chanel and married an American heiress.
This book is a reminder of how revoltion and war can change the worlds of so many people, and how that change had spread and impacted through a Europe which was also in the throes of dramatic change. We must remember that the Romanovs were descended from or connected by marriage to most of the other royal houses in Europe, and there were many political and dynastic implications of the fall of the Romanovs.This is a fascinating story about fascinating people in a time when the world was turned upside down.

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The Flight of the Romanovs recounts the story of Russia'slast imperial dynasty from the youth of the future Tsar Alexander IIIto the death of his daughter Olga Alexandrovna, the lastgrand-duchess, in 1860. The authors draw upon a wealth of previouslyuntapped sources. Includes a number of previously unpublishedphotographs.

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