The Fate of the Romanovs
by Greg King, Penny Wilson
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Book Summary Information
Author: Greg King, Penny WilsonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-10-28
ISBN: 0471727970
Number of pages: 672
Publisher: Wiley
Book Reviews of The Fate of the Romanovs
Book Review: The Fate of The Romanovs is Russian History at its best!
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Fate of the Romanovs" by British historians Greg Wilson and Penny Wilson looks at the life and tragic death of Nicholas II and his doomed family who died in a hail of Bolshevik bullets on July 17, 1918.
The book is long and very detailed in its depiction of what happened to the eighteenth and last Tsar. Nicholas began his reign in 1894. He was a good father and husband but a terrible ruler of the vast land he ruled!
Nicholas was a virulent anti-semite, persecuted Jews and minorities, cruely sought to stifle dissent and lived in a fabulously wealthy cocoon
supported by the reaction Russian Orthodox Church and the Tsarist army.
Nicholas was a uxorious mate to his formidable Darmstadt born wife Queen Alexandra. She was disliked by the public and aristocrats at court for her haughty and unfriendly behavior. Alexandra was deeply religious although her support of the starets Rasputin was deplored by the Russian people.
Nicholas and Alexandra were the parents of five children: Olga, Tatiana, Marie, Anastasia and the tsarevich Alexis who was a hemophiliac.
The family were taken prisoner by the provisional government of Kerensky in the spring of 1917 following the signing of the treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany. The Romanovs who had ruled Russian for 300 years were taken into captivity at their home Tsarkoye Selo. Later they would be moved under guard to the Siberian city of Tobolsk and their final destination of Ekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains. The Bolsheviks were now their captors. Ekaterinburg was under attack by the White Russian army and the Czechs as the Russian Civil War was in full force. Lenin did not favor the execution of Nicholas unless he were tried in a public trial before the nation.
It was the Ural Soviet Council that wanted Nicholas and his family to die before their city was taken by the Whites/Czechs. And so on the night of July 17, 1918 the Romanovs were forced to enter the cellar of the Ipatiev home where they were being held prisoner. Here they were shot to death and bayoneted by a squad of 10 men led by Yurovsky. Their bodies were first put the Four Brothers Mine nine miles outside the city deep in the forest. This was proved to be unacceptable and they were then buried in a mass grave in a forest meadow.
This story takes 300 pages to tell. It was, to this reviewer, the most interesting part of the book. The second half deals with inept attempts by the Soviet government to invesigate the scene of the crime, exhume the bones and make a report on their findings. We also learn of the controversy in the Russian Orthodox Church on granting the Romanovs sainthood. The Romanovs were buried in the Fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul in St. Petersburg on July 17, 1998 in a controversial funeral pitting political & religous forces against one another.
The major mystery remains the whereabouts of the bodies of Anastasia and her brother Alexis. Their bodies were never found in a mystery which will probably never be solved. King and Wilson inform us that the Romanovs have become the center of a cult glorifying past Russian glory.
As one who is not privy to all the controversies in this Royal murder mystery this is still an excellent book for the history buff or general reader. The account of the brutal and horrific murders will shock and sadden you. I recommend this book as a worthy addition to your shelf on Russia and her leaders.
Summary of The Fate of the Romanovs
Abundant, newly discovered sources shatter long-held beliefsThe collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 revealed, among many other things, a hidden wealth of archival documents relating to the imprisonment and eventual murder of Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and their children. Emanating from sources both within and close to the Imperial Family as well as from their captors and executioners, these often-controversial materials have enabled a new and comprehensive examination of one the pivotal events of the twentieth century and the many controversies that surround it.
Based on a careful analysis of more than 500 of these previously unpublished documents, along with numerous newly discovered photos, The Fate of the Romanovs makes compelling revisions to many long-held beliefs about the Romanovs' final months and moments. This powerful account includes:
* Surprising evidence that Anastasia may, indeed, have survived
* Diary entries made by Nicholas and Alexandra during their captivity
* Revelations of how the Romanovs were betrayed by trusted servants
* A reconstruction of daily life among the prisoners at Ipatiev House
* Strong evidence that the Romanovs were not brutalized by their captors
* Statements from admitted participants in the murders
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