A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas & Alexandra - Andrei Maylunas, Sergei Mironenko > Reviews > The realities of a revolution

Author's product rating:   

Degree of Information	Very high
How easy was it to read / get information from	Very easy
How interesting was the book?	Compelling
How useful was it?	Indispensable
Would you read it again?	Absolutely
Value for money	Excellent

Advantages:	Totally factual
Disadvantages:	You already know the ending

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

No matter what history tells us about revolutions and civil unrest, it rarely gets to be so graphically and heartbreakingly portrayed.

Through the private diaries and letters of the Romanov family, colleagues and friends you begin to walk hand in hand with them to their tragic end. It's appalling enough to already know that they die, but to read about why and how is chilling to the bone.

The book itself has been sublimely edited by Sergei Mironenko and Andrei Maylunas, and if their goal was to produce a book that respected the memories of those involved while explaining the awful predicament they were placed in, then this achieves it and much, much more.

Totally factual, fascinating, absorbing and sometimes shocking, we see the start of the great romance between Alexandra and Nicholas before their marriage. They corresponded daily and kept detailed diaries throughout their lives together which covered many events, both private and public, and shows the close relationship that was ultimately very unhealthy for them. The selected quotes from their respective family diaries and letters also show views from both inside and outside the "camp" and helps to explain the evolving plots that surrounded them.

The murder of Rasputin is covered in great depth and this really scared the bejeebers out of me. I had always taken the stories that he wouldn't die with a pinch of salt, believing them to be the fevered imaginings of of revolutionists, but I was wrong.

And this book showed me how wrong I had been in my preconceptions about the time in history, the family, the revolutionists and their leaders. About Russia in general, really. The schools should find a way of introducing this book into the History lessons - there wouldn't be a better teacher.

Detailed reviews are obviously required here, but since reading the book I have felt a real bond with the family and it almost feels like I'm betraying their trust to talk about their lives in detail, so I'll just advise you, very, very strongly to go and buy, beg or borrow this book.

Thought provoking in the extreme.