Nicholas and Alexandra Paperback – 24 Mar. 2016

I read this biography many years ago and, when it appeared as a kindle deal of the day, a while ago, snapped it up to re-read. This was first published in 1967, when many of those, who witnessed the events of that period, were still alive – indeed, the young ballerina with whom Nicholas had a romance with, was an elderly lady in Paris at the time of publication. At that point, most of the books about that period concentrated on the Russian Revolution from the point of view of Lenin and the Bolsheviks. However, Robert Massie, having recently discovered that his eldest son had haemophilia, was inspired to put the Imperial Family at the centre of the story, in an inspired biography.When Nicholas fell in love with Alix of Hesse, grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, he, set in motion events which resulted in the end of Romanov rule. Their romance was a true one; their marriage touching and Massie, without doubt, helps you have sympathy for the young Alix, who would become the Empress Alexandra, the ‘German Woman,’ the mother filled with guilt because of her son’s illness… Even despite the fact that her much longed-for young son, born after the birth of four daughters, had haemophilia, Alexandra was not made to be an Empress. Shy, socially awkward and prudish, she found the glittering, Russian Court difficult. Her reaction to expectations that she would lead the endless balls, parties, gossip and gaiety, was to withdraw. As such, she found herself disliked, not only by the people, but by the aristocracy. Meanwhile, Nicholas was unprepared to be Tsar and, although he would probably have made an excellent figurehead, as an autocrat, he was weak and indecisive.Undoubtedly, the couple’s son, Alexei’s, illness, made the couple even more self-contained and secretive. With the Russian Tsar expected to be all powerful, they felt it would be a sign of weakness, and cause speculation about the throne, if anyone discovered the truth. When Alexandra discovered Rasputin, the peasant Holy Man, who she felt was the only person who could heal her son, she clung to him, despite almost everyone else feeling that he was damaging the country. When Nicholas took control of the army, during WWI, Alexandra began to interfere in politics – and Rasputin was always there, whispering in her ear; his influence distrusted and disliked.This is a well researched, well written, and excellent account of that period. Massie brings all of the characters to life and re-creates the period, and places, well. I still think that this is one of the best, overall, biographies of this period that I have read – indeed, possibly, the best. Massie is sympathetic, but always honest about events. In a way, this is almost like reading a novel and, as you continue reading, you really hope for a different ending. Definitely a classic and a very moving read.

This is a re-issue of a book originally published in 1967, later made into a film in 1971. Like any book, (indeed like any event) it is of its time, and of the subjectivity of its writer in its time.Written therefore while the Cold War was still extant, it may show the fact that what we know/knew of Russia at that time will have certain aspects hidden, and also that how America itself perceived Russia will be of a certain aspect. We are all affected by the view from where we are.Given the title of the book, the focus lies particularly upon the last Romanovs, vilified, at the time from within, just as the revolutionaries were at that time vilified from without. We all have our views to defend.History and historical analysis must also be partial, as the historian also has a partiality.What emerges from Massie's interesting, rather sympathetic account of the Romanovs is a view of history which inevitably focuses on personalities in time.Massie puts the whole vastness of Russia, its mysticism, its reactionary, god-fearing backwardness in many ways, as well as the cauldron for revolution-in-reaction, under a microscope, but the Romanovs are viewed more closely. His conclusions place the haemophilia of Alexis (knowledge hidden, at the time, from the Russian population at large, who therefore had certain views about Alexandra's coldness which perhaps may have been interpreted differently had Alexis' condition been more widely known about) as central to what transpired, since it placed her under the influence of Rasputin, and meant, when Nicolas was focusing on Russia at War, that Ministers were being promoted and sacked with dizzying frequency based purely on the relationship between the Minister and the Starets. He concludes history would have been vastly different without the Heir's haemophilia. Massie's own son was also haemophiliac, so the centrality of this may also have been filtered through the writer's viewpoint. We all filter from where we stand.There is a view of history which says that if these particular people had not existed at these particular times then the times itself would have thrown up others who fulfilled their exact function or place. Whilst its true that there is a culture which begets us which we, as masses, absorb, so that history can be seen as mass, rather than individual movements, it is also, surely, true that individuals do leave their mark upon history, and shape it, for good or ill.What I found fascinating was the picking apart of the inevitable drive to the Great War, the shifting alliances which occurred between the European countries which were in part down to the alliances of blood and marriage between European rulers - and how autocracy itself is problematic, (whether the autocrat inherits his autocracy or wrests it by force of will, drive and ideology)In Massie's account the Romanovs were not the monsters painted by the Bolsheviks, who of course had good reason to foster a painting of monstrosity, rather, autocracy itself, whoever is at its head, is problematic. The brutality of the murder of the Romanovs shows a mindset of ends-justifies-means which continued in the autocracy which came after.History, (not to mention literature) is littered with examples of:"I am in bloodStepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more,Returning were as tedious as go o'er"This was a rather difficult book to read on Kindle, where (quite common with non-fiction) it becomes less easy to search an index than in a paper book. At least this is the case with my Keyboard Kindle.Keeping up with the rapid changes of Ministerial power, and the similar struggles by members of the Duma and the holders of power amongst the various revolutionary factions became a little dizzying (as no doubt it was to live through!)Having taken in many ways a personal psychology and personality driven view of history as far as the Romanovs were concerned, I would have liked more of this individuality on `the other side' which might have kept me a little clearer. But I am sure much more information exists about the great and good or not so good than about the apparatchiks of history

A brilliantly factual view of the Russian Dynasty and exceptional insight into the Romanov Family, digest slowly as it’s a challenging read