The Romanovs: the Final Chapter
by Robert K. Massie

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Book Reviews of The Romanovs: the Final Chapter

Book Review: A fine tribute to Russian history and modern science
Summary: 5 Stars

The bulk of his book is devoted to two issues: (1) An account of what happened to the remains of the Romanovs, and the efforts of post-Communist Russia and the West to scientifically determine if nine skeletons exhumed from a mass grave in Siberia in July 1991 really were the remains of the Imperial family (pp. 3-139). (2) The issue of Anna Anderson, the woman who claimed, for over sixty years, that she was Grand Duchess Anastasia and had escaped from the carnage at the Ipatiev House. Was she really a Romanov? Massie recalls the secluded and bizarre life of Anna Anderson (one of her many known names) and the efforts to do DNA testing on a sample of her tissue and with those of the real Romanovs. The scientists' and Massie's conclusion is shocking...sorry to break this news: this woman perpetrated the biggest and longest lie in the 20th Century - she was not even remotely related to the Romanovs! (pp. 144-251).

Throughout the book, Massie places a lot of emphasis on the academic and legal bickering that took place over these controversial efforts to solve this mystery. It makes for very frustrating reading, to learn about the stubbornness and bizarre grounds upon which different parties based their agendas and stances in the form of legal wrangling. What is satisfying, however, is the happy ending in this story: ghosts of the past are laid to rest and the ongoing mystery is solved, even though there remain those who refuse to accept this fact.

In the last two parts of the book, Massie addresses the Romanov émigrés throughout the world and their stances on these controversial issues. Many of them are current pretenders to the Russian throne; a source of even more infighting among the existing descendants of the Imperial family. The book tops off with an account of what the Imperial family did and experienced in their 78-day stay at the Ipatiev House, leading up to that fateful night when the end came for them all. In all, Massie's book is a wonderful combination of history and current events (now to be called `recent history' in light of when the book came out, in 1995), a perfect tribute to the history of Russia and the benefits and meaning of science in unraveling issues long thought dead.

Summary of The Romanovs: the Final Chapter

In July 1991, nine skeletons were exhumed from a shallow mass grave near Ekaterinburg, Siberia, a few miles from the infamous cellar room where the last tsar and his family had been murdered seventy-three years before. But were these the bones of the Romanovs? And if these were their remains, where were the bones of the two younger Romanovs supposedly murdered with the rest of the family? Was Anna Anderson, celebrated for more than sixty years in newspapers, books, and film, really Grand Duchess Anastasia? The Romanovs provides the answers, describing in suspenseful detail the dramatic efforts to discover the truth. Pulitzer Prize winner Robert K. Massie presents a colorful panorama of contemporary characters, illuminating the major scientific dispute between Russian experts and a team of Americans, whose findings, along with those of DNA scientists from Russia, America, and Great Britain, all contributed to solving one of the great mysteries of the twentieth century.

Historical Books

• Books > Subjects > Biographies & Memoirs
• Leaders & Notable People > Royalty
• History > Russia