The Romanovs: the Final Chapter by Robert K. Massie
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Book Reviews of The Romanovs: the Final Chapter
Book Review: Exciting!
Summary: 5 Stars
Pulitzer prize winner Robert K. Massie writes beautifully and "The Romanovs " is not only a fine documentary but a suspenseful mystery story as well.
The bones of five members of the imperial family, Dr. Botkin and three loyal servants were discovered in 1991 in a shallow Ekaterinburg grave not far from the Ipatiev house where they were executed. Scientists in the United States and Russia examined the bones and determined two imperial family members were missing: the tsarevich and Anastasia. (In 2008, years after the publication of this book, the charred remains of Alexei and Anastasia were found together in a separate grave.)
Although the bodies had been severely disfigured with blows from rifle butts and sulphuric acid, clues remained. Alexandra's skull was identified by the exquisite platinum dental work while the servant Demidova's dental work was of inferior quality. Dr. Botkin's skull was missing the upper teeth and indeed his dentures had been found years before. The tsar's skull was easily identified since he never went to a dentist and his teeth were not only decayed, he had periodontal disease.
Although the three older grand duchesses, Olga, Tatiana and Marie, were very close in age they could be differentiated by their spines and their arm and leg bones, and it was apparent that no 17 year old girl, Anastasia, was among the bodies.
Scientists wrangled in a rather unseemly fashion over the DNA of famous Anastasia impostor Anna Anderson. But it was finally determined that Anna Anderson was a Polish peasant not the Grand Duchess Anastasia. But until the DNA did her in, Anderson had a large following of believers, including Nicholas' rather gullible sister, Olga, who had known the girls well and who believed for a while that Anderson was her niece.
Anderson fooled people for sixty years and as Massie points out, there are many bona fide Romanovs around the world but nobody has ever heard of them. Everybody has heard of Anna Anderson!
Two less successful imposters are described in the book- Colonel Michael Goleniewski. who masqueraded as Alexei and Eugenia Smith, an Anastasia. Their stores make highly amusing, if rather pathetic reading. Smith even passed a lie detector test so convinced was she that she was royal. The two even met and carried out a charade that they were the imperial family brother and sister. Their photographs are in the book, and of course neither looks remotely like the real thing..
"The Romanovs" is suspenseful, exciting and dramatic, a page-turner .The threads of the imperial family's death are woven together into a tapestry, the loose ends tidied up.A fine read for Romanov buffs.
Book Review: An Appropriate Conclusion
Summary: 5 Stars
In 1967 Robert K. Massie published his magnificent Nicholas and Alexandra, a biography of the last Tsar and Empress of Russia. That book was for me, like many others, a transformative experience, leading to a lifelong interest in Russian history and royal biography. At the time Massie wrote the Cold War still raged and there was little chance that anything more would ever be known about the final days and resting place of the Imperial Family.
Then in the 1990s came the end of the Cold War and the beginning of DNA research. With the Soviet Union dead and buried, researchers began to probe the area around Ekaterinburg, trying to discover the last remains of the Romanovs. Bodies were discovered which appeared to be those of the last Tsar and his family and servants, but proof was needed. Massie does an excellent job describing the search for and discovery of the remains, and then outdoes himself in clearly and comprehensively describing the technicalities of DNA reseach. Samples were taken from living relatives of the Romanovs, and DNA matches were made with five of the recovered bodies. The servants who died with the Romanovs were also identified, but the Tsar's only son Alexis and one of his younger daughters remained missing.
Massie describes these events clearly and concisely. He also includes an interesting section dealing with the Romanov relatives and their family feud over who is and who is not entitled to call themselves a Romanov. While this work does not have the same emotional reach of Nicholas and Alexandra, it still fascinates.
In 2007 two bodies were discovered near Ekaterinburg which appear to be those of Alexis and his missing sister. Once their identity is definitely established and the two bodies are allowed to join their parents and siblings in their new, more appropriate resting place in St. Petersburg, I hope that Massie will provide us with a new, absolutely final chapter in the Romanov saga.
Book Review: Highly Addicting
Summary: 5 Stars
The follow-up to the highly addictive Nicholas and Alexandra was equally riveting. While the first book was published long before any remains were discovered, the second book explores the unearthing of the royal family's final resting place, the authentication of the bones, the contention of a variety involved parties and the mystery of whether there were any survivors.
The first part of the book dealt with the identification of the remains. I had to slow down a bit to really absorb the various testing methods using nuclear DNA versus mitochondrial DNA and all the other technical jargon along with the many people involved in the process.
An entire section is devoted to the mystery of Anna Anderson, aka Anastasia. It amazed me that so many people were taken in by her claims (personally, I didn't think she looked at all like Anastasia based on photos), especially considering she couldn't even speak Russian! The ensuing court battle to test a small sample of her tissue to compare to Romanov DNA was like something out of Law and Order.
I find the whole Romanov thing very fascinating and that's greatly attributed to Massie's writing. He makes the monarchs accessible and their plight sympathetic. The fact that he personified remains that had been buried for decades and seemed to care about the outcome of the family is reflected in his narration. This captivating book is a great mystery in its own right.
Book Review: Interesting, informative and very complete.
Summary: 5 Stars
There are no other historical figures that have captured my attention as the last Tsar and Tsarina of Russia have. To me, they are really tragic figures as both were thrown into a political office they were not prepared for and did not even enjoy. Yet in the midst of this, their family values and the love between Nicholas and Alexandra and their children has really been made evident. My heart breaks for the family and I have a really great admiration for them. While I was already aware of the details of the family's death, Massie's book really shed some light as to the developments that occured once their bodies were found. It is an interesting and informative piece of work that obviously had alot of research invested in it. It was interesting to learn about the whole process of testing the bones for authenticity and to learn of all the different parties and political twists involved. What I have found a little bit tedious, however, was the chapters detailing the court case on the release of Anna Anderson's tissues. However, I guess in order to give a full picture, all the information was needed. It is definitely a book anyone with even the slightest interest in the Romanov's or even the mystery surrounding their murders should read. By Tamara Williams, umwilli4@cc.umanitoba.cBook Review: The truth revealed
Summary: 5 Stars
This book appealed to the forensic scientist in me. Rober K Massie had already written one marvelous book on the Romanov's and this book is the epilogue. After 7 decades, the truth is revealed. There is maybe still a little tiny bit of room for conspiracy theories to run amok in, but...The first half of the book details the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the Romanov's and then the startling truth revealed in the dying years of someone who KNEW what really happened that fateful night in Ekaterinburg. Interesting also, is the current Russian governments reluctance to put this issue to rest, preferring to the last to believe that the Romanov's did not perish at Ekaterinburg rather than admit to destroying the Russian empire. The second half of the book is about the many people who claimed to be surviving Romanov's of the Ekaterinburg disaster. It takes skill to deceive people for 7 decades! Probably not as exhilerating as the first half of the book, but interesting nontheless.
I loved this book for wrapping up a tragic tale spanning nearly 1 century. Maybe some people won't like that, but I for one am glad that this great tragedy has been revealed for all that it is and documented as best and sympathetically as one can. Thank you Mr. Massie!