The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial 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!

A treat for history buffs in general and specifically for those interested in Tsarist/Czarist history as am I.The three stories are:1. A story of the intimate lives of the Romanov family itelf2. A description of the events from the worker strikes of 1905 until Vladimir Lenin took power in 19173. An observation of the life of the average man/ a peasant at the turn of the 20th century and how it contrasted with the lives of the very wealthy, particularly the Tsar and his extended family.The book is of moderate length with two seperate groupings of approximatley 70 Black & White plates showing the most interesting characters discussed in the narrative. The chapter lengths are quite short with easy to read narrative and a derth of long and obfuscative words, so that it would be suitable for ate middle school readers andothers expecially interested in Russian History. This narrative history is further divided into four sections:Part One: Before the StormPart Two: Dark Clouds GatheringPart Three: The Storm BreaksPart Four: Final DaysThe author thought to include a rather extensive bibliography, a more than adequate index, and a page of references for internet sites that also enable further study and a lot more pictures of the times and characters discussed.Most people would agree that the murder of the Tsar and his entire family and some of his entourage along with Anastasia's pet dog was a heinour and brutal crime, yet the author takes great pains and showing that Tsar Nicholas and his wife Tsarista Alexandra or Alix in German [she directly came from the house of ZHesse in Germany] and both she and Nicky were grandchildren of Queeen Victoria of England and also cousins. Actually most of European nobility was quite closely related at the time. Nicky and Alix lived a life that was so far removed from the common man that it is hard to describe. Alexandra thought the main palace at St Petersburg or Petrograd in Russian was too barren and cold, as it along with its outbuildings and servant and other family quarters stretched for approximatley three miles along the Neva River. So she opted that they move into the more modest dwelling of 800 acres with only 100 rooms about 12 miles away. Now, that really is roughing it, isn't it? As a direct contrast we find out that "most peasants had never slept in a proper bed, never owned a pair of leather shoes, eaten off a china plate, or [ever] been examined by a doctor.As the 20th century began, the blue bloods or BELAYA KOST, comprised of about 870 extended families of the Tsar made up about 1.5% of the population of Russia's 130 million people at the time, yet they controlled 90% of the wealth of the country. Talk about your income inequality. At the time, factory workers in the cities earned about 80 Kopecs/day or 40 cents for a 12 hour day. Women only had to work 11 hours, so they could get home in time to prepare the meals and clean house for the rest of the family, yet they earned 1/3 of men's wages, and if you think that bad, young children who were forced to work the same 12 hour days as their fathers earned a mere 1/2 kopec/hour or 3 cents for a 12 hour shift. If anyone complained they were fired on the spot.To put this more into perspective, at the time Nicholas was placed in captive exhile with his family, they took with them "two valets, six chambermaids, ten footmaen, three cooks, four assistant cooks, a clerk, a nurse, a doctor, a barber, a butler, a wine steward tow pet spaniels, and a bull dog, p;lus later joined by tutors for the children, all of which was paid for by the average factory worker and peasant who were all starving at the time. When the family moved from one location to another it took 50 soldiers to move their personal belongings. The grand duchesses wanted their bed linens changed daily as it had been in the palace, so they hired and outside laundry service racking up a laudry bill of 428.00 dollars for the first few weeks.The author does a nice job of covering many of the events of WWI and Russia's participation plus the relationship of Father Gregory Rasputin, the so-called STARETS or holyman and emperess Alexandra, who was trying to save young Alexei from death due to hemophilia. There is a nice background story to Lenin's rise to power, but the most mesmerizing part was the stark contrast of how 84% of the populace who were peasants lived as compared to the royals and their extended family. Most people know that the family took their own jewels with them and sewed them into the girls clothing,but what most people didn't realize is that those precious jewel weighed 19 pounds and were worth 14 million at that time. Reading both sides of the story lets you come away with a different perspective of the tragic events.Well worth the read.

The Family RomanovThe 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.

Great info, well written, up to date.

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

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.

Great read!

great,thanks