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Mar 14, 2011

Chrissie rated it:

NO SPOILERS!!!

On completion: I very highly recommend this book to those interested in Nicholas and Alexandra Romanov, to anyone interested in Russian history, to those interested in the beginning of Bolshevism in Russia and also to those who enjoy historical biographies written by talented authors. Massie can write. He knows his subject, in and out, backward and forward. There are detailed notes to every chapter. You never have to doubt the accuracy of that which you are reading. He More...

51 comments like (15 people liked it)

Sep 13, 2011

Parvathy rated it:

"After all, the nursery was the center of all Russia's Trouble" this quote by Sir Bernard Pares was the line that caught my attention when I decided to go through this 1967 biography of the last royal family of Russia by historian Robert K. Massie. Being not much of a fan of non fiction literature I was a little reluctant when my mother recommended this book to me and told me that this book was one of a kind. But all my reservations was removed the moment I came across this line. What More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jun 25, 2008

Jaclyn rated it:

Reading "Nicholas and Alexandra" was like watching a train wreck in progress... you knew where it was going, you knew how it had to end, yet you continued to stare, fascinated and horrified, hoping against hope that things might turn out differently, but of course they didn't. Massie's account is decidedly sympathetic to the Tsar and Tsaritsa, but their memories have been so dragged through the mud of history that I think it's only fair that they should have someone come down so empha More...

1 comment like (7 people liked it)

Aug 31, 2011

Erik rated it:

Just starting college and thinking of a history degree with a specialization in Russian history, I picked up Massie's biography of the last of the Romanovs with some interest. Except for learning something about hemophilia and some dirt about Rasputin, I was very disappointed. The book might be enjoyed by someone entranced with the lives of "royals" and not concerned about those last aristocrats who actually exercised state power by virtue of birth. Knowing much of anything about Ru More...

5 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 03, 2011

Lesley rated it:

Well that was depressing. It's not a surprise ending by any means but I still gasped at the end when it all went down. I really admire the genuine love & affection they had for each other as a family. Generally books that describe the monarchy are low on love. It's usually a lot of scheming and pushes for power with a family. At least they had each other if nothing else.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 03, 2011

Lynne rated it:

Many, many books have been published on this subject, but Massie took a different approach to the story. Himself the parent of a chronically-ill child, Massie knew what kind of upheaval a disease like hemophilia could cause in a family. Imagine you're Tsar of Russia and your only son and heir to the throne has this disease. There were no clotting-factor concentrates, nor was transfusion a possibility in the early 1900's. While it was known at the time that hemophiliacs didn't bleed to death fr More...

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Nov 20, 2011

Tanya rated it:

The last imperial family of Russia may have little relevance to our world today, but nonetheless, Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie is a compelling and rich historical tale of a family torn apart by a devastating disease, and a country torn apart by political uprisings, war, and disenchantment.

Nicholas II was twenty-six years old when he ascended to the throne and became Tsar of all the Russias. Beside him was his bride, Alexandra Fedoryvna, a German princess by birth (Alix of More...

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Sep 15, 2011

Julia rated it:

This book came to be written by accident (Robert Massie was researching haemophilia) & I read it be accident. The cover & subject didn't appeal but a copy was laying around & out of boredom I flicked it open & began reading. The mystery of Anastsia is prob. what most people think about when the last Russian Royal family is brought up, and that really was the extent of my knowledge prior to reading this whoops I nearly said novel. Because it recounts one of the greatest events in Russian history, More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 13, 2011

Jeff rated it:

"Nicholas and Alexandra", Robert K. Massie, 1967. An incredible piece of writing. -A love story, a war story. Political, psychological, historical, a book of intimate details and of sweeping, world changing events. In subtle ways, Robert K. Massie points to the endless, seemingly irrelevant events of fate. -events that snow ball, gather tremendous velocity and then forever alter the lives of millions. Robert K. Massie's own life parallels a similar course. Massie's interest in Russian More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 02, 2011

Tamara rated it:

Fiction could not be more compelling than this tragic and haunting account of the last Tsar and Tsarista of Russia. Their love for each other was so beautiful! The book reprints actual letters written to each other, journal entries, etc. - and reading their own words is so authentic and moving. Alexandra writes to Nicholas a little note for him to find just after their engagement, "I dreamed that I was loved, I woke and found it true and thanked God on my knees for it. True love is the g More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 24, 2010

Alanna rated it:

This book was incredible. I learned so much, and I felt it was REALLY well researched and documented. I have to admit, pretty much everything I knew about the last Tsar of Russia probably stemmed from conversations with my mom (who is well versed, but still) and the movie Anastasia, which I only saw when it first came out. So that makes my own knowledge somewhere in the zilch range. Now I feel like an expert, and I'm hungry for more-- the question is whether to move on to Lenin or skip right More...

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Apr 04, 2010

Jason rated it:

"Bloody Nicholas". "Alexandra the German". These and other epithets were used to descibe Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra, the last Tsar and Tsarina of Imperial Russia. However, Massie brings to light and to life, the personal, human side of both Nicholas and Alexandra and their families.

With unusual and fascinating insight, the lives of Nicholas and Alexandra are explored in the context of their backgrounds, upbringings, experiences, and the very public role wh More...

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Oct 11, 2009

Tiffany rated it:

What a turbulant way to end a reign. The story of the last Tsar of Russia is a compelling one, in its grand setting of palaces, luxury, and Revolution. Characters such as the beautiful Tsarina, the sickly and beloved son, Alexis, and the mysterious and mesmerizing monk, Gregory Rasputin, who, it must be said, has the most dramatic death I have ever heard of, fill the pages with their being. This was a real family, and this was a real time and event. And it is truly a story worth reading. I read More...

1 comment like

Sep 25, 2009

Kristen rated it:

Embarrassingly enough this book took me almost two months to read. In my defense it is over 500 pages of small print. Despite the fact that it is not a page turner, I just couldn’t bring myself to put it down. The author truly brought this royal family to life for me. It was so interesting to read about their weaknesses and human qualities that made Nicholas and Alexandra so endearing. Nicholas was such a family man who, when he was forced to abdicate the throne, decided not to make his sic More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Sep 22, 2009

M. D. rated it:

Another great book by Massie – he is my favorite popular historian, I think. It’s massive, but I couldn’t put it down. Massie takes, I believe, what could be called a Great Man approach to history, and if a Great Man isn’t around, a Mediocre Man approach. Nicholas was mediocre as a ruler, but as Massie demonstrates, a truly devoted, loving family man. In fact the last Czar was a really nice guy all round and took his duties and responsibilities seriously. He loved his people, which is a goo More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 27, 2009

Abigail rated it:

Massie writes like a novelist, bringing the era of World War I to life in this story of the last tsar of Russia. He tells the story of how Nicholas' love for his wife and her love for their only son, the hemophiliac Alexis, ruined the nation and destroyed the lives of many. Because of his hemophilia, Alexis was kept under careful surveillance at all times to avoid an accident, but it didn't always keep the accidents from happening. When the dirty, obscene, but extraordinarily powerful Gregory Ra More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 09, 2009

Sarai rated it:

This is about the last tsar of Russia, Nicholas Romanov, and his wife and children. It starts before Nicholas' reign and ends shortly after the murder of the family and their servants in the House of Special Purpose.

This is a long book, but it is a very interesting read. Massie started looking into the family because his own son suffered from hemophilia, as did Tsar Nicholas' son Alexei. The book details the strange hold of Rasputin over Empress Alexandra, as well as his mysterious a More...

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May 28, 2009

Matt rated it:

A monarchy falls. A revolution begins. A civil war is fought. A wall is built. A couple million die in gulags. And all because two people fell in love.

The couple is, as the title might lead you to speculate, Nicholas and Alexandra. The last of the Romanovs.

Tsar Nicholas II was a resoundingly mediocre man. He did not have the capacity for greatness, which he showed time and again. He led Russian from a great power into revolution, a long slide that saw the distrous Russo More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Apr 24, 2009

Mike rated it:

This is an outstanding, highly readable saga of the life of Tsar Nicholas Romanov, his ascendency and ultimately doomed reign in Imperial Russia. He took the throne in 1894 at age 26, after the early death of his father Alexander III. The blood relations to other monarchs is always amazing to read (descended from George II of England; first cousin to George V; nephew of several imperials). This study also intimately relates the lives of his core family: Alix of Hesse, German and Lutheran by birt More...

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Dec 07, 2010

Maja rated it:

I wa completely taken in by this book. It was entertaining, enlightning and infuriating. It was quite clear to me that Robert K. Massie wanted this book not only to inform and teach but also to entertain. the style in which he tells the story of the last Tsar and his family is much like the style one would write a piece of fiction. In many places I wanted a source from Massie to know whre he got his data from. In other place his sources were simply a little floopy - they were oral, conversations More...

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Jul 14, 2011

Darcy rated it:

I found this book to be very interesting. I liked learning more about these people and found them to be both very naive and down to earth.

Naive in that, so often the case with the very rich or royalty, they didn't relate well with those that are not on their social level. There were many examples where what the Tsar and his wife perceived was not what most of the rest of Russia thought. I also found it interesting at the end when they were little more than prisoners with the reb More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 26, 2011

Tanya rated it:

Nicholas and Alexandra is a hefty book filled with tiny print, and it took me awhile to get through it, but it was definitely worth it. I haven't studied much Russian history, so this book was filled with new things for me to learn. Massie shows that the fate of the Russian Revolution was greatly affected by the fact that the heir to the Russian throne, Tsarevich Alexis, was born with hemophilia. His frequent near-death experiences made his tormented mother Alexandra susceptible to the influe More...

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Nov 30, 2011

Lori added it

I read this for the first time when I was in the eighth grade and thus began my love of the Romanov story. I became consumed with this story, so much so that I turned this into the basis of a term research paper and did an impassioned oral report on the last days of Tsar Nicholas and his family, reading an excerpt from his book, that students and teachers alike for years remarked as memorable and enlightening. I was so taken with this story that now, decades later, I can still name every member More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 02, 2011

John Mark rated it:

The depth of tragedy in this story was quite unexpected. I knew the broad strokes, war, revolution, hemophilia, Rasputin, etc. But the details of Nikolai's and Alexandra's immense love for each other and their children were wholly unexpected. Despite their incompetence as rulers, they were very loving and devoted to each other and their family.

My only complaint (and it is a small one) is about the Anglification of the Russian names. For example:

Nicholas = Nikolai
Ale More...

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Aug 04, 2011

Ruth rated it:

Originally published in 1967, this is a must for anybody interested in Russian history and the tragic events that surrounded the Romanov family. Sympathetic to Nicholas and Alexandra, Massie manages to tell the story from all sides with the result that understanding the complex array of events and motivations. It is quite a hefty novel but I did not find it overwhelming or ponderous due to his style of writing. His love of history comes across strongly as does his meticulous research. Since the More...

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Jan 18, 2012

Emily rated it:

This was a really fascinating portrait of the last Romanov couple. Nicholas and Alexandra's lives are presented in exhaustive detail - from their first meeting to the months before their execution - and Massie succeeds in both humanizing them and absolving them of some of the blame for the collapse of the autocracy.

Nicholas, Alexandra, and their son Alexis get distinct personalities, but the four Romanov daughers tend to blend together. It's partially because so much time is devoted t More...

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Apr 03, 2011

Cheryl rated it:

Secrets...every family has them, but when you are the Czar of Russia, the consequences can bring down a 300 year old dynasty. Producing a male heir to the throne was mandatory for Nicholas and his beloved wife Alexandra, but only daughters were born to the couple. Finally Alexis was born in the first decade of the 20th century to fanfare, but he seemed cursed with the European royals disease of hemophilia. Unwilling to share this potentially disasterous secret, Alexandra sought her own medicine More...

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Apr 03, 2010

Ashley rated it:

This book is a huge, panoramic look at the lives of the last Russian czar and his family, obviously a doomed tale. Yet it is an absolutely fascinating read! Definitely not light reading, it is generally considered the definitive biography of Czar Nicholas II. This sweeping tale is most memorable for melding its narrative of historical facts with a subtle grasp of individuality. Very much like the butterfly effect, a few unlikely events and decisions in these lives affected the world in tremendou More...

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Jan 07, 2012

Erica rated it:

It's almost impossible to imagine what it must have been like to be a Russian during the 300-year autocratic rule of the Romanov dynasty. From high to low, one person ruled the vast expanse of Russia...a country ever shrinking and expanding through wars and treaties. This book focuses on the Imerial family as the changes taking place in Western Europe continued to move east, changing the world one government after the other. Massie paints an expansive picture of Nicholas and Alexandra and the pe More...

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Dec 08, 2011

Erin rated it:

This is not a book someone should be reading if they are interested in a general overview of the Russian Revolution. I shouldn't even have to say that, since it's incredibly upfront about its focus (I mean, look at the title?) but some other reviews seem to suggest otherwise. This is a book about a family and an illness and a way of life, and outside influences are delved into only when necessary - if you don't know anything about Bolshevism, this won't teach you.

Which is fine! Becau More...

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