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A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas and Alexandra: Their Own Story
These letters, most of which are published here for the first time, offer an intimate look at some of the most momentous events of the early 1900s, including Russia's participation in World War I and the fall of the Romanov dynasty in the Bolshevik revolution. Among the correspondents are Alexandra's beloved but domineering grandmother, Queen Victoria of England, and Nicholas' cousin, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany. Most poignant, though, are the letters and diaries of the last Tsar and Tsarina, which stand as eloquent expressions of one of the great love affairs of this century.
A Lifelong Passion begins in 1884 with the couple's first childhood meeting and chronicles their intense courtship and first joyful years of marriage. The Romanovs' happiness was not to last, however, as they were quickly overtaken by the forces of war and revolution. The discovery that their only son and heir Alexei was stricken with hemophilia opened the family to the formidable and perhaps malign influence of the monk Rasputin, whose gory death at the hands of two Grand Dukes is here recounted by one of the murderers. Though unshaken in their love for one another, Nicholas and Alexandra could not hold their country together, and their story ends with a chilling account of their assassination by the Bolshevik revolutionaries.
A Lifelong Passion begins in 1884 with the couple's first childhood meeting and chronicles their intense courtship and first joyful years of marriage. The Romanovs' happiness was not to last, however, as they were quickly overtaken by the forces of war and revolution. The discovery that their only son and heir Alexei was stricken with hemophilia opened the family to the formidable and perhaps malign influence of the monk Rasputin, whose gory death at the hands of two Grand Dukes is here recounted by one of the murderers. Though unshaken in their love for one another, Nicholas and Alexandra could not hold their country together, and their story ends with a chilling account of their assassination by the Bolshevik revolutionaries.
688 pages, Hardcover
First published October 27, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
June 11, 2008
I really liked this book, it taught me a lot about the Romanov family and how they lived their lives. It is an intimate look at their lives through their journals, private correspondence, diaries, and letters. A true tender love story full of intrigue, betrayal, and sorrow.
As the authors wrote: "There is something magical about this family, both in the way they lived and the dignity and enduring love with which they faced their deaths."
As the authors wrote: "There is something magical about this family, both in the way they lived and the dignity and enduring love with which they faced their deaths."
November 13, 2017
Nothing equals reading primary sources! Both authors, who are also historians, acknowledge the invaluable assistance of the staff of the State Archives of the Russian Federation as well as staff at the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle. They note in their acknowledgements the impossibility of compiling this book without that expert help. Letters between Nicky and Alix as well as many other members of the tsar's family provide an accurate and intimate account of the lives of the Romanovs. Nicky is utterly unprepared for the duties thrust upon him at age twenty-six due to his father's untimely death. Deeply religious, both Nicholas and Alexandra fall under the spell of Rasputin who repeatedly assures them as long as he is alive nothing will prevent the survival of their son and the royal dynasty. Even today circumstances remain unclear surrounding the Bolshevik decision to execute the Romanovs. It was not until 1991 that the remains of Nicholas, Alexandra, their four daughters, their only son, and several of their servants were actually discovered near Ekaterinburg--absolute proof that not a single one of this magical family survived.
December 22, 2025
Fascinating collection of documents - some of them are well known, like the excerpts from Prince Yussoupov's unreliable memoirs, others like many of the quotes from letters and diaries of the extensive Romanov family are fascinating because unknown. The book is presented and packaged for the 'Nicholas & Alexandra' crowd but it is far more astute and interesting then that.
February 4, 2015
Just reading people's letters is interesting. These two should have been middle class family living in the suburbs, not rulers by any measure.
When I say like it, I mean reading the letters gives insight, not agreeing with them whatsoever!
When I say like it, I mean reading the letters gives insight, not agreeing with them whatsoever!
April 8, 2020
Gonna be honest here I thought this was going to be a slog because it was just letters, but I couldn’t put it down. It provided an intimate look at the family, and the letters and testimonies from other major players made it feel more like a cohesive story. Am very glad I finally decided to read it.
November 28, 2015
Quite literally breathtaking. Perhaps one of the best eye-witness accounts of the demise of the old world with the advent of WWI that I have read despite the myopia of the witnesses themselves.
The tragic character flaws of Nicholas and Alexandra ensured their doom. Nicholas's inadequacy and indecisiveness rendered him an ineffectual tsar and commander-in-chief and demonstrated him to be a dangerously anachronistic emblem of autocracy in a world of constitutional monarchies and burgeoning socialism. Alexandra was the consummate autocratic consort, unwavering in her belief in Nicholas even as she cajoled and harried him to ultimately destructive decisions. Never waylaid by inconvenient facts and never in doubt was Alexandra. Committed to theocratic autocracy and the articulated denial of any governmental role for the people, Alexandra and Nicholas isolated themselves from reality and enclosed themselves in their gilded palaces and warm nuclear family.
Rasputin, the villain of the common story was only able to flourish in the agar of Nicholas's passive indecision and Alexandra's fanatic belief in his fraudulent exhortations that he only was their salvation. He was proven right that after his assassination the dynasty was ended. A self-fulfilling prophesy of the most catastrophic sort
The hemophilia suffered by Alexei and seemingly responsive only to Rasputin was the device by which the royal family involuted and shut out the world as it violently seized around them nationally and internationally.
The lifelong passion between the tsar and tsarina was treacly, co-dependent, not a little nauseating and utterly horrifying as its warm embrace and fevered pitch rendered them deaf, dumb and blind to reality and their role as rulers. The earnest pleas to save Russia and themselves and the wise guidance from other family members and advisers were rejected entirely. Those who cautioned against the danger of Rasputin and Nicholas and Alexandra's obdurate clinging to autocracy even as the 20th century dawned and roared ahead were alienated and denied.
As David Lloyd George (British PM) remarked, Nicholas could have had a long and happy life had he not been born emperor.
Last note: this is not a read for those with only superficial knowledge of Russia, the Bolshevik Revolution and the events leading up to and of WWI. Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra is a strong first read and then I recommend George, Nicholas and Wilhelm by Miranda Carter.
The tragic character flaws of Nicholas and Alexandra ensured their doom. Nicholas's inadequacy and indecisiveness rendered him an ineffectual tsar and commander-in-chief and demonstrated him to be a dangerously anachronistic emblem of autocracy in a world of constitutional monarchies and burgeoning socialism. Alexandra was the consummate autocratic consort, unwavering in her belief in Nicholas even as she cajoled and harried him to ultimately destructive decisions. Never waylaid by inconvenient facts and never in doubt was Alexandra. Committed to theocratic autocracy and the articulated denial of any governmental role for the people, Alexandra and Nicholas isolated themselves from reality and enclosed themselves in their gilded palaces and warm nuclear family.
Rasputin, the villain of the common story was only able to flourish in the agar of Nicholas's passive indecision and Alexandra's fanatic belief in his fraudulent exhortations that he only was their salvation. He was proven right that after his assassination the dynasty was ended. A self-fulfilling prophesy of the most catastrophic sort
The hemophilia suffered by Alexei and seemingly responsive only to Rasputin was the device by which the royal family involuted and shut out the world as it violently seized around them nationally and internationally.
The lifelong passion between the tsar and tsarina was treacly, co-dependent, not a little nauseating and utterly horrifying as its warm embrace and fevered pitch rendered them deaf, dumb and blind to reality and their role as rulers. The earnest pleas to save Russia and themselves and the wise guidance from other family members and advisers were rejected entirely. Those who cautioned against the danger of Rasputin and Nicholas and Alexandra's obdurate clinging to autocracy even as the 20th century dawned and roared ahead were alienated and denied.
As David Lloyd George (British PM) remarked, Nicholas could have had a long and happy life had he not been born emperor.
Last note: this is not a read for those with only superficial knowledge of Russia, the Bolshevik Revolution and the events leading up to and of WWI. Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra is a strong first read and then I recommend George, Nicholas and Wilhelm by Miranda Carter.
January 2, 2026
my last book of 2025! a great one to end the year with. it might be a new favorite, but i'm not sure if my love for it is mostly because of my love for the romanovs, so i'm going to wait before i decide. but i did really love the structure, presenting so many different sources was such an interesting way to tell this story, and reading people's letters is so intimate!! nicholas's excessive use of exclamation points, even in his own diary, was incredibly endearing. I will say, i might have been a little confused at times if i wasn't so familiar with the plot because of all the other romanov books i've read recently. so it could perhaps be confusing for someone who didn't know much about them.
there were a few chapters that i personally think didn't have enough to do with nicholas and alexandra - there should have been at least one letter between them from each year! or one of nicholas's diary entries. when the plot strayed too far from them i got less interested, and it sometimes felt like the authors had too much good material on their hands to know what to do with. for example, all of konstantin romanov (kr)'s writing was SO interesting and SO devastating, but it really had nothing to do with the rest of the family or the events of their lives. but at the same time his struggle with his sexuality was so interesting that it would be crazy to not include it, so i understand the dilemma. it's so sad to watch him bounce between shame and sin, especially reading it in a time when being gay is much more accepted. so much unnecessary suffering, for him and so many other queers in history! i could cry.
nicholas and alexandra truly loved each other in a way that i didn't even know was possible, and i'm forever thankful that we have some of their letters to see it. even as an atheist, i have to believe that their souls are together somewhere and that their love lives on, because otherwise i might have to kms. and they went through so so much as a couple that would have totally destroyed a weaker marriage, but if anything it all made their love stronger which is insane. i just can't even express how much i love their love. sorry!
this book also did a really good job depicting how much nicholas and alexandra turned inwards in the last years of their lives, even away from their own family members. but at the same time, the letters and accounts of them and their families show you exactly why they felt so misunderstood and isolated even from their closest family members. nicholas's whole family wanted to throw alix in a convent once he abdicated - who in their right mind would think he would allow that to happen???
my final thoughts are that the last chapter is absolutely devastating. it's so striking to read the final letters and diary entries of nicholas, alexandra and their children, and to have them right next to the memoirs of their literal murderers. i was filled with such a sense of dread and sadness that i haven't felt reading a book in a long time.
some quotes:
“Nicky to Alix [1894]
I feel completely changed, one’s life seems useful, there is an object in living for others and for oneself too! Oh! my sweet one - all that I learnt through you! [...] But though I seem cold as a stone, I love you, my darling, as few persons can only love! Quel est l’amour véritable? Celui qui aime et ne parle pas! [What is true love? That which loves and does not speak!] That is so perfectly true and is so exactly my case. I love you too deeply and too strongly for me to show it; it is such a sacred feeling, I don’t want to let it out in words, that seem meek and poor and vain! But now I will try and break that habit of hiding my feelings, because I think it wrong and selfish in some occasions. [...]
You have got me entirely and for ever, soul and spirit, body and heart, everything is yours, yours; I would like to scream it out loud for the world to hear it. It is me who am proud to belong to such a sweet angel as you are and to venture to claim for your love to be returned - is more than being greedy and selfish.”
“ KR, Diary [1894]
The young Tsar is the admiration of everyone [...] Yesterday, when receiving the Council of State, He addressed them most beautifully. I watched Him during the requiem service: the calm kind face, the thoughtful, deeply sad eyes, often half-closed. He is weighed down by his exalted rank. His modesty suffers from having to be everywhere and always the first.”
“ George, Duke of York to Queen Victoria [1894]
I do think Nicky is a very lucky man to have got such a lovely and charming wife; and I must say I never saw two people more in love with each other or happier than they are.”
“ Nicky, Diary [1894]
[...] for the first time since our wedding we have been able to be alone and live truly soul-to-soul. [in Alix’s hand] Never did I believe there could be such utter happiness in this world, such a feeling of unity between two mortal beings. I love you - those three words have my life in them.”
“Nicky, Diary [1894]
But putting faith in God I look forward to the next year without fear - because for me the worst has already happened, that which I feared all my life! But together with this irrevocable grief the Lord has rewarded me also with a happiness which I could never have imagined. He has given me Alix.
[1895]
We dined at eight, and then sat in my study where I read aloud! I cannot express how much I enjoy these quiet evenings, alone with my sweet beloved wife! My heart turns to God with a prayer of thanks, for the gift of such complete and boundless happiness on this earth!”
“KR, Diary [1896]
Last night the Emperor heard that 300 people had died. He left for dinner in tears and deeply upset. [...] The Emperor did not want to go to the French ball, but he was persuaded to go for just an hour; once there, Vladimir, Alexei, and Sergei himself convinced the Emperor to stay for supper, on the grounds that leaving the ball would appear ‘sentimental’.”
“Sandro, Memoirs
Nicky spent the first ten years of his reign sitting behind a massive desk in the palace and listening with near awe to the well-rehearsed bellowing of his towering uncles.”
“KR, Diary [1897]
I talked a lot with Sandro; he grieves, and not without reason, that the Emperor is so indecisive. In truth, he remains too often under the impression, and consequently under the influence, of the last words spoken to him. May God grant that time will develop his sense of independence, although it seems a lot to hope for. But he does have inestimable qualities: for instance calm, restraint, the absence of any impatience.”
“Sandro, Memoirs
The wife of Alexander III had lived in the country for seventeen consecutive years preceding her coronation, but Princess Alix was given exactly ninety-six hours to study the language and get acquainted with the national customs. Unable to grasp the relative standing of the innumerable courtiers she made errors, irrelevant in themselves but tantamount to formidable crimes in the eyes of St Petersburg society. It frightened her and created marked reserve in her treatment of visitors. This in turn gave circulation to the comparisons between the friendliness of the Dowager-Empress and the ‘snobbish coolness’ of the young Tsarina. Nicholas II resented this malicious matching of his mother against his wife, and very soon the relations between court and society became antagonistic.”
“Alix to Nicky [1902]
It is terrible to have to let you go off all alone, knowing that worries are awaiting you. But our dear Friend [Philippe] will be near you and help you answering William [Kaiser Wilhelm]’s questions. Be friendly and severe, that he realizes he dare not joke with you and that he learns to respect you and be afraid of you - that is the Chief thing. How I wish I were with you.”
“KR, Diary [1903]
[I have been called] ‘the best man in Russia’. But I know what this ‘best man’ is really like. How appalled all those people, who love and respect me, would be if they knew of my depravity! [...]
The misfortune is that even though I could fight, I don’t want to, I weaken, forget my fear of God and fall; I know that the longer it goes on, the more ingrained the habit becomes and the more difficult and painful is the struggle.”
“Ivan Kalyaev to his comrades - from prison [1905]
‘You must have suffered a lot, to take this decision,’ she said, but here I interrupted her and jumped up, very much agitated by her tears: ‘What does it matter whether I have suffered, or not. Yes I suffered, but I join my suffering to that of a million others. Too much blood is being spilt around us, yet we have no other form of protest against a cruel government and a terrible war. But why do they talk to me only after I have committed murder?’ I repeated, interrupting my own musings.
‘Yes, it’s a great pity that you did not come to see us, and that we did not know you earlier.’ The Grand Duchess pronounced these words without, I think, any ulterior thought.”
“Pierre Gilliard, Memoirs
In spite of all her efforts, she [the Empress] never succeeded in being merely amiable and acquiring the art which consists of flitting gracefully but superficially over all manner of subjects.
The fact was that the Tsarina was nothing if not sincere. Every word from her lips was the true expression of her real feelings. Finding herself misunderstood, she quickly drew back into her shell. [...] She adopted a habit of distant reserve which was taken for haughtiness and contempt.
But those who came in contact with her in moments of distress knew what a sensitive spirit, what a longing for affection, was concealed behind that apparent coldness.”
“Alix to Maria [1910]
My darling little Maria,
Your letter made me quite sad. Sweet child you must promise me never again to think that nobody loves you. How did such an extraordinary idea get into your little head? Get it quickly out again.
We all love you very tenderly, only when too wild and naughty and won’t listen, then must be scolded; but to scold, does not mean that one does not love, on the contrary, one does it so as that you may cure your faults and improve.”
“Pierre Gilliard, Memoirs
His mother kissed him on the hair, forehead, and eyes, as if the touch of her lips could have relieved his pain and restored some of the life which was leaving him.
Think of the tortures of that mother, an impotent witness of her son’s martyrdom in those hours of mortal anguish – a mother who knew that she herself was the cause of his sufferings, that she had transmitted to him the terrible disease against which human science was powerless! Now I understood the secret tragedy of her life! [...]
Rasputin had realised the state of mind of the despairing mother who was broken down by the strain of her struggle and seemed to have touched the limit of human suffering. He knew how to extract the fullest advantage from it, and with a diabolical cunning he succeeded in associating his own life, so to speak, with that of the child.”
“Ania Vyrubova, Memoirs
At this time a telegram arrived from Rasputin in Siberia, which plainly irritated the Emperor. Rasputin strongly opposed the war, and predicted that it would result in the destruction of the Empire. But the Emperor refused to believe it and resented what was really an almost unprecedented interference in affairs of state on the part of Rasputin.”
“Pierre Gilliard, Memoirs
When war broke out in 1914, Olga was nineteen and Tatiana had just had her seventeenth birthday. They had never been to a ball. [...] After hostilities one thought, and one thought alone, inspired them – to relieve the cares and anxieties of their parents by surrounding them with a love which revealed itself in the most touching and delicate attentions.
If only the world had known what an example the Imperial family were setting with their tender and intimate association! But how few ever suspected it!”
“Alix to Nicky [1914]
I also said goodnight to Ania, her humour towards me has been not too amiable this morning - what one could call rude and this evening she came lots later than she had asked to come and was queer with me. She flirts hard with the young Ukrainian - misses and longs for you - at times colossally gay; [...] At the beginning she was daily asking for more operations, and now they bore her, as they take her away from her young friend, tho’ she goes to him every afternoon and evening again.
It’s naughty my grumbling about her, but you know how aggravating she can be. You will see when we return how she will tell you how terribly she suffered without you, tho’ she thoroughly enjoys being alone with her friend, turning his head. Be nice and firm when you return and don’t allow her foot-game etc. Otherwise she gets worse after - she always needs cooling down.”
“Maurice Paleologue, Memoirs [1914]
Alexandra is German neither in mind nor spirit and has never been so. Of course, she is German by birth [...] In 1878, at the age of six, she lost her mother and thenceforward resided habitually at the court of England. Her upbringing, education and mental and moral development were thus quite English. She is still English in her outward appearance, her deportment, a certain strain of inflexibility and Puritanism, the uncompromising and militant austerity of her conscience.
In her inmost being she has become entirely Russian. I have no doubt of her patriotism. Her love for Russia is deep and true. [...] In recent years she has taken a personal dislike to the Emperor William and he it is whom she holds exclusively responsible for the war, this ‘wicked war which makes Christ’s heart bleed every day.’
But her moral naturalism has gone even further. By a curious process of mental contagion she has gradually absorbed the most ancient and characteristic elements of the Russian soul, all those obscure, emotional and visionary elements which find their highest expression in religious mysticism. [...] Are not all those symptoms – moral unrest, chronic melancholy, vague sorrows, the see-saw between elation and despondency, the haunting obsession of the invisible and the life beyond, and superstitious credulity – which are outstanding features of the Empress’s personality, tradition and endemic in the Russian people?”
“Alix to Nicky [1915]
Everything is so serious and just now particularly painful and I long to be with you, to share your worries and anxieties. You bear all so bravely and by yourself – let me help you my Treasure. [...] If you could only be severe, my Love, it is so necessary, they must hear your voice and see displeasure in your eyes; they are too much accustomed to your gentle, forgiving kindness. [...] They must learn to tremble before you [...] You must simply order things to be done, not asking if they are possible (you will never ask anything unreasonable or a folly). Where there is a will there is a way and they must all realize that you insist upon your wish being speedily fulfilled only don’t ask, but order straight off, be energetic for your country’s sake!
[...]
God, what a hideous war! Sweet brave Soul how I wish one could rejoice your poor tortured heart with something bright and hopeful. I long to hold you tightly clasped in my arms, with your sweet head resting upon my shoulder – then I could cover Lovy’s face and eyes with kisses and murmur soft words of love. [...] Rest well, my treasure, I bless and kiss you ever so fondly and gently stroke your dear brow.”
“Nicky to Alix [1915]
Nothing gives me more pleasure than to feel proud of you, as I have all these last months when you worried me thoroughly to be firm and stick to my opinion.”
“Andrei Vladimirovich, Diary [1915]
Mama repeated several times that Alix had made a profound impression on her. Here was very real despair; Alix looked at things exactly as we do, and everything she said was clear, affirmative and true.
This episode in our family life is important, in that it gives us the possibility of understanding Alix. Almost the whole of her life in our country has been veiled in a shadowy incomprehensible aura. Nobody really knew her, in fact, or understood her [...] It was difficult to know, where the truth was. [...]
Of course, the conversation between Alix and Mama described above, cannot restore everything that has been lost over the past twenty years, but for us in any case that conversation was very important. We saw her in a new light, and realized that many of the legends are false, and that she is on the right path.”
“Alix to Nicky [1915]
In case therefore if we do not see each other on the 14th, I send you my very,very tenderest loving thoughts and wishes and endless thanks for the intense happiness and love you have given me these 21 years – oh, Darling, it is difficult to be happier than we have been and it has given one strength to bear much sorrow.”
“Alix to Nicky [1916]
Oh, to have wings and fly over every evening to cheer you up with my love. Long to hold you in my arms, to cover you with kisses and feel that you are my very Own, whoever dares call you ‘my own’, – you nevertheless are mine, my own treasure, my Life, my Sun, my Heart!”
“Nicky to Alix [1916]
Fondest thanks for your dear letters; now I don’t see any troops they are my only comfort.
Thanks also for the little image – I have put it on my chain! Now I will wear something from you!
Here are three flowers I found yesterday during the walk.”
“Maurice Paleologue, Memoirs
There has been no change in what the Emperor says; he still proclaims his determination to win and his absolute confidence in victory. But despondency, apathy and resignation can be seen in his actions, appearance, attitude and all the manifestations of the inner man.”
“Alix to Nicky [1916]
Remember Mr Philippe’s words when he gave me the image with the bell. As you were so kind, trusting and gentle, I was to be your bell, those that came with wrong intentions would not be able to approach me and I would warn you.[...]
How will the lonely nights be? I cannot imagine it. The consolation to hold you tightly in my arms – it lulled the pain of soul and heart and I tried to put all my endless love, prayers and faith and strength into my caresses. So inexpressibly dear you are to me, husband of my heart.”
(ran out of space: https://open.substack.com/pub/deardum...)
there were a few chapters that i personally think didn't have enough to do with nicholas and alexandra - there should have been at least one letter between them from each year! or one of nicholas's diary entries. when the plot strayed too far from them i got less interested, and it sometimes felt like the authors had too much good material on their hands to know what to do with. for example, all of konstantin romanov (kr)'s writing was SO interesting and SO devastating, but it really had nothing to do with the rest of the family or the events of their lives. but at the same time his struggle with his sexuality was so interesting that it would be crazy to not include it, so i understand the dilemma. it's so sad to watch him bounce between shame and sin, especially reading it in a time when being gay is much more accepted. so much unnecessary suffering, for him and so many other queers in history! i could cry.
nicholas and alexandra truly loved each other in a way that i didn't even know was possible, and i'm forever thankful that we have some of their letters to see it. even as an atheist, i have to believe that their souls are together somewhere and that their love lives on, because otherwise i might have to kms. and they went through so so much as a couple that would have totally destroyed a weaker marriage, but if anything it all made their love stronger which is insane. i just can't even express how much i love their love. sorry!
this book also did a really good job depicting how much nicholas and alexandra turned inwards in the last years of their lives, even away from their own family members. but at the same time, the letters and accounts of them and their families show you exactly why they felt so misunderstood and isolated even from their closest family members. nicholas's whole family wanted to throw alix in a convent once he abdicated - who in their right mind would think he would allow that to happen???
my final thoughts are that the last chapter is absolutely devastating. it's so striking to read the final letters and diary entries of nicholas, alexandra and their children, and to have them right next to the memoirs of their literal murderers. i was filled with such a sense of dread and sadness that i haven't felt reading a book in a long time.
some quotes:
“Nicky to Alix [1894]
I feel completely changed, one’s life seems useful, there is an object in living for others and for oneself too! Oh! my sweet one - all that I learnt through you! [...] But though I seem cold as a stone, I love you, my darling, as few persons can only love! Quel est l’amour véritable? Celui qui aime et ne parle pas! [What is true love? That which loves and does not speak!] That is so perfectly true and is so exactly my case. I love you too deeply and too strongly for me to show it; it is such a sacred feeling, I don’t want to let it out in words, that seem meek and poor and vain! But now I will try and break that habit of hiding my feelings, because I think it wrong and selfish in some occasions. [...]
You have got me entirely and for ever, soul and spirit, body and heart, everything is yours, yours; I would like to scream it out loud for the world to hear it. It is me who am proud to belong to such a sweet angel as you are and to venture to claim for your love to be returned - is more than being greedy and selfish.”
“ KR, Diary [1894]
The young Tsar is the admiration of everyone [...] Yesterday, when receiving the Council of State, He addressed them most beautifully. I watched Him during the requiem service: the calm kind face, the thoughtful, deeply sad eyes, often half-closed. He is weighed down by his exalted rank. His modesty suffers from having to be everywhere and always the first.”
“ George, Duke of York to Queen Victoria [1894]
I do think Nicky is a very lucky man to have got such a lovely and charming wife; and I must say I never saw two people more in love with each other or happier than they are.”
“ Nicky, Diary [1894]
[...] for the first time since our wedding we have been able to be alone and live truly soul-to-soul. [in Alix’s hand] Never did I believe there could be such utter happiness in this world, such a feeling of unity between two mortal beings. I love you - those three words have my life in them.”
“Nicky, Diary [1894]
But putting faith in God I look forward to the next year without fear - because for me the worst has already happened, that which I feared all my life! But together with this irrevocable grief the Lord has rewarded me also with a happiness which I could never have imagined. He has given me Alix.
[1895]
We dined at eight, and then sat in my study where I read aloud! I cannot express how much I enjoy these quiet evenings, alone with my sweet beloved wife! My heart turns to God with a prayer of thanks, for the gift of such complete and boundless happiness on this earth!”
“KR, Diary [1896]
Last night the Emperor heard that 300 people had died. He left for dinner in tears and deeply upset. [...] The Emperor did not want to go to the French ball, but he was persuaded to go for just an hour; once there, Vladimir, Alexei, and Sergei himself convinced the Emperor to stay for supper, on the grounds that leaving the ball would appear ‘sentimental’.”
“Sandro, Memoirs
Nicky spent the first ten years of his reign sitting behind a massive desk in the palace and listening with near awe to the well-rehearsed bellowing of his towering uncles.”
“KR, Diary [1897]
I talked a lot with Sandro; he grieves, and not without reason, that the Emperor is so indecisive. In truth, he remains too often under the impression, and consequently under the influence, of the last words spoken to him. May God grant that time will develop his sense of independence, although it seems a lot to hope for. But he does have inestimable qualities: for instance calm, restraint, the absence of any impatience.”
“Sandro, Memoirs
The wife of Alexander III had lived in the country for seventeen consecutive years preceding her coronation, but Princess Alix was given exactly ninety-six hours to study the language and get acquainted with the national customs. Unable to grasp the relative standing of the innumerable courtiers she made errors, irrelevant in themselves but tantamount to formidable crimes in the eyes of St Petersburg society. It frightened her and created marked reserve in her treatment of visitors. This in turn gave circulation to the comparisons between the friendliness of the Dowager-Empress and the ‘snobbish coolness’ of the young Tsarina. Nicholas II resented this malicious matching of his mother against his wife, and very soon the relations between court and society became antagonistic.”
“Alix to Nicky [1902]
It is terrible to have to let you go off all alone, knowing that worries are awaiting you. But our dear Friend [Philippe] will be near you and help you answering William [Kaiser Wilhelm]’s questions. Be friendly and severe, that he realizes he dare not joke with you and that he learns to respect you and be afraid of you - that is the Chief thing. How I wish I were with you.”
“KR, Diary [1903]
[I have been called] ‘the best man in Russia’. But I know what this ‘best man’ is really like. How appalled all those people, who love and respect me, would be if they knew of my depravity! [...]
The misfortune is that even though I could fight, I don’t want to, I weaken, forget my fear of God and fall; I know that the longer it goes on, the more ingrained the habit becomes and the more difficult and painful is the struggle.”
“Ivan Kalyaev to his comrades - from prison [1905]
‘You must have suffered a lot, to take this decision,’ she said, but here I interrupted her and jumped up, very much agitated by her tears: ‘What does it matter whether I have suffered, or not. Yes I suffered, but I join my suffering to that of a million others. Too much blood is being spilt around us, yet we have no other form of protest against a cruel government and a terrible war. But why do they talk to me only after I have committed murder?’ I repeated, interrupting my own musings.
‘Yes, it’s a great pity that you did not come to see us, and that we did not know you earlier.’ The Grand Duchess pronounced these words without, I think, any ulterior thought.”
“Pierre Gilliard, Memoirs
In spite of all her efforts, she [the Empress] never succeeded in being merely amiable and acquiring the art which consists of flitting gracefully but superficially over all manner of subjects.
The fact was that the Tsarina was nothing if not sincere. Every word from her lips was the true expression of her real feelings. Finding herself misunderstood, she quickly drew back into her shell. [...] She adopted a habit of distant reserve which was taken for haughtiness and contempt.
But those who came in contact with her in moments of distress knew what a sensitive spirit, what a longing for affection, was concealed behind that apparent coldness.”
“Alix to Maria [1910]
My darling little Maria,
Your letter made me quite sad. Sweet child you must promise me never again to think that nobody loves you. How did such an extraordinary idea get into your little head? Get it quickly out again.
We all love you very tenderly, only when too wild and naughty and won’t listen, then must be scolded; but to scold, does not mean that one does not love, on the contrary, one does it so as that you may cure your faults and improve.”
“Pierre Gilliard, Memoirs
His mother kissed him on the hair, forehead, and eyes, as if the touch of her lips could have relieved his pain and restored some of the life which was leaving him.
Think of the tortures of that mother, an impotent witness of her son’s martyrdom in those hours of mortal anguish – a mother who knew that she herself was the cause of his sufferings, that she had transmitted to him the terrible disease against which human science was powerless! Now I understood the secret tragedy of her life! [...]
Rasputin had realised the state of mind of the despairing mother who was broken down by the strain of her struggle and seemed to have touched the limit of human suffering. He knew how to extract the fullest advantage from it, and with a diabolical cunning he succeeded in associating his own life, so to speak, with that of the child.”
“Ania Vyrubova, Memoirs
At this time a telegram arrived from Rasputin in Siberia, which plainly irritated the Emperor. Rasputin strongly opposed the war, and predicted that it would result in the destruction of the Empire. But the Emperor refused to believe it and resented what was really an almost unprecedented interference in affairs of state on the part of Rasputin.”
“Pierre Gilliard, Memoirs
When war broke out in 1914, Olga was nineteen and Tatiana had just had her seventeenth birthday. They had never been to a ball. [...] After hostilities one thought, and one thought alone, inspired them – to relieve the cares and anxieties of their parents by surrounding them with a love which revealed itself in the most touching and delicate attentions.
If only the world had known what an example the Imperial family were setting with their tender and intimate association! But how few ever suspected it!”
“Alix to Nicky [1914]
I also said goodnight to Ania, her humour towards me has been not too amiable this morning - what one could call rude and this evening she came lots later than she had asked to come and was queer with me. She flirts hard with the young Ukrainian - misses and longs for you - at times colossally gay; [...] At the beginning she was daily asking for more operations, and now they bore her, as they take her away from her young friend, tho’ she goes to him every afternoon and evening again.
It’s naughty my grumbling about her, but you know how aggravating she can be. You will see when we return how she will tell you how terribly she suffered without you, tho’ she thoroughly enjoys being alone with her friend, turning his head. Be nice and firm when you return and don’t allow her foot-game etc. Otherwise she gets worse after - she always needs cooling down.”
“Maurice Paleologue, Memoirs [1914]
Alexandra is German neither in mind nor spirit and has never been so. Of course, she is German by birth [...] In 1878, at the age of six, she lost her mother and thenceforward resided habitually at the court of England. Her upbringing, education and mental and moral development were thus quite English. She is still English in her outward appearance, her deportment, a certain strain of inflexibility and Puritanism, the uncompromising and militant austerity of her conscience.
In her inmost being she has become entirely Russian. I have no doubt of her patriotism. Her love for Russia is deep and true. [...] In recent years she has taken a personal dislike to the Emperor William and he it is whom she holds exclusively responsible for the war, this ‘wicked war which makes Christ’s heart bleed every day.’
But her moral naturalism has gone even further. By a curious process of mental contagion she has gradually absorbed the most ancient and characteristic elements of the Russian soul, all those obscure, emotional and visionary elements which find their highest expression in religious mysticism. [...] Are not all those symptoms – moral unrest, chronic melancholy, vague sorrows, the see-saw between elation and despondency, the haunting obsession of the invisible and the life beyond, and superstitious credulity – which are outstanding features of the Empress’s personality, tradition and endemic in the Russian people?”
“Alix to Nicky [1915]
Everything is so serious and just now particularly painful and I long to be with you, to share your worries and anxieties. You bear all so bravely and by yourself – let me help you my Treasure. [...] If you could only be severe, my Love, it is so necessary, they must hear your voice and see displeasure in your eyes; they are too much accustomed to your gentle, forgiving kindness. [...] They must learn to tremble before you [...] You must simply order things to be done, not asking if they are possible (you will never ask anything unreasonable or a folly). Where there is a will there is a way and they must all realize that you insist upon your wish being speedily fulfilled only don’t ask, but order straight off, be energetic for your country’s sake!
[...]
God, what a hideous war! Sweet brave Soul how I wish one could rejoice your poor tortured heart with something bright and hopeful. I long to hold you tightly clasped in my arms, with your sweet head resting upon my shoulder – then I could cover Lovy’s face and eyes with kisses and murmur soft words of love. [...] Rest well, my treasure, I bless and kiss you ever so fondly and gently stroke your dear brow.”
“Nicky to Alix [1915]
Nothing gives me more pleasure than to feel proud of you, as I have all these last months when you worried me thoroughly to be firm and stick to my opinion.”
“Andrei Vladimirovich, Diary [1915]
Mama repeated several times that Alix had made a profound impression on her. Here was very real despair; Alix looked at things exactly as we do, and everything she said was clear, affirmative and true.
This episode in our family life is important, in that it gives us the possibility of understanding Alix. Almost the whole of her life in our country has been veiled in a shadowy incomprehensible aura. Nobody really knew her, in fact, or understood her [...] It was difficult to know, where the truth was. [...]
Of course, the conversation between Alix and Mama described above, cannot restore everything that has been lost over the past twenty years, but for us in any case that conversation was very important. We saw her in a new light, and realized that many of the legends are false, and that she is on the right path.”
“Alix to Nicky [1915]
In case therefore if we do not see each other on the 14th, I send you my very,very tenderest loving thoughts and wishes and endless thanks for the intense happiness and love you have given me these 21 years – oh, Darling, it is difficult to be happier than we have been and it has given one strength to bear much sorrow.”
“Alix to Nicky [1916]
Oh, to have wings and fly over every evening to cheer you up with my love. Long to hold you in my arms, to cover you with kisses and feel that you are my very Own, whoever dares call you ‘my own’, – you nevertheless are mine, my own treasure, my Life, my Sun, my Heart!”
“Nicky to Alix [1916]
Fondest thanks for your dear letters; now I don’t see any troops they are my only comfort.
Thanks also for the little image – I have put it on my chain! Now I will wear something from you!
Here are three flowers I found yesterday during the walk.”
“Maurice Paleologue, Memoirs
There has been no change in what the Emperor says; he still proclaims his determination to win and his absolute confidence in victory. But despondency, apathy and resignation can be seen in his actions, appearance, attitude and all the manifestations of the inner man.”
“Alix to Nicky [1916]
Remember Mr Philippe’s words when he gave me the image with the bell. As you were so kind, trusting and gentle, I was to be your bell, those that came with wrong intentions would not be able to approach me and I would warn you.[...]
How will the lonely nights be? I cannot imagine it. The consolation to hold you tightly in my arms – it lulled the pain of soul and heart and I tried to put all my endless love, prayers and faith and strength into my caresses. So inexpressibly dear you are to me, husband of my heart.”
(ran out of space: https://open.substack.com/pub/deardum...)
March 31, 2009
This book is a collection of letters and journal entries written by the last tsar and tsarina of Russia. As the title suggests, Nicholas and Alexandra, unlike most royal couples, loved each other passionately throughout their lives. Their prolific writings tell the story of their struggles, not only in ruling Russia, but in raising their family, in particular their struggle with the heir's hemophiliac disease, which led eventually to the downfall of both the country and their family. The story ends tragically in their untimely death at the hands of the Communists during the Bolshevik Revolution.
April 14, 2023
I do not know half my relatives but I can now tell you which Romanov had haemorrhoids.
On a more serious note, this wrist-breaking book is a historical diamond mine of translated letters, diaries, logs, and testimonies from the last years of Tsarist Russia, letting both major and minor players tell you this unforgettable saga in their own words. The researchers have gone above and beyond as they bring together countless timelines and arcs to give you the last of the Romanovs in all their horror and beauty and idiocy and glory.
On a more serious note, this wrist-breaking book is a historical diamond mine of translated letters, diaries, logs, and testimonies from the last years of Tsarist Russia, letting both major and minor players tell you this unforgettable saga in their own words. The researchers have gone above and beyond as they bring together countless timelines and arcs to give you the last of the Romanovs in all their horror and beauty and idiocy and glory.
November 28, 2009
This book is just amazing. It's filled with letters and excerpts from memoirs and journals from many members of the Russian Imperial Family, as well as from their relatives, from tutors to the Imperial children, Ministers to the Tsar, foreign ambassadors, etc. Most of the material is only published in this book, and many of the memoirs cited are difficult to find, so this is a real treasure. All of the letters and diaries are interesting in themselves, but some are especially touching like the children of the last Tsar writing to their parents and Nicholas and Alexandra's letters to each other - filled with love - during their engagement, Queen Victoria's letters to Nicholas. I cannot recommend this book enough for anyone interested not only in Nicholas and Alexandra, but in all the family.
July 19, 2008
You truly must be a history buff to love this book. I am, but I can see where some may not. It begins in 1881 in Russia where Nicholas II the last Tsar of Russia was overthrown and murdered along with his family. Follow their lives and those of the children in this epic story. Not for everyone, much detail. But if you enjoy accurate historicals you will enjoy it. There is romance between Nicholas and Alexandra.
January 10, 2021
i don't know why i read books about the romanovs because i always cry at the end
July 19, 2018
Wonderful, just wonderful! This is one of the very BEST resources I've found on the Romanov family in all the research I've been doing lately.
Life-long Passion is a book of letters, diary entries, and memoir pieces from the Romanovs and those closest to them. They are arranged in chronological order, starting with Nicholas Romanov as a young man with his father still alive and believing he has many years before he himself will have to become the Tsar of Russia. We see his reaction to meeting his future wife, Alice (Alexandra), as a twelve year old at Ella's wedding for the first time and, through their correspondence, see them fall in love in their own words. It's very beautiful. And, of course, tragic, as the collection of correspondence continues well into the war and his giving up the throne and the family's imprisonment.
The most interesting part of this collection for me were the letters by Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei, and I wish there had been more of those, as I adored them and learned a lot about each child's personality from them. I also loved the memoirs of Felix, Rasputin's murderer. He is a most fascinating historical figure, and he definitely had a way with words that make you feel quite charmed by him even years after his death. One can see why his wife Irina (cousin of the Romanov children) admired him and wanted him even with his messed up past and the unsavory rumors about him.
My least favorite parts were when the back and forth love letters of Nicholas and Alexandra didn't have enough breaks in-between them for historical background and to just a breather from their constant declarations of love. Just because I think they're adorable, doesn't mean I want to read page after page, after freaking page of "I love YOU, more, darling," "No, I love YOU, more, dearest wify..." (We get it... Lots of love... Moving on, if you please...)
Basically it's the historical and literary equivalent, of "No, YOU hang up first..." and it does kind of make one want to roll ones eyes after a while, no matter how cute they are. All of these letters were great, they just shouldn't have been so lumped together -- space those suckers out!
I also had a really hard time reading Yurovsky's accounts at the end. That was just uncomfortable. The way he causally talks about shooting an entire family in cold blood is just...ugh... I think this man might have been a sociopath... How else do you explain that? I mean, really. It's upsetting. Also, the accounts of how killers just snatched other Romanov family members (like the tsar's brother, and Alexandra's sister) from their beds at night more or less to murder them... It's like, dude, Russia is MESSED UP. Shakes head. Shame on you sickos. Sorry I can't articulate myself better on this subject, but since I'M not a sociopath, I find this really hard to stomach and express my feelings on. It's just plain sick.
Also, I found it somewhat irksome that certain documents presented about who was where during what event (mostly towards the end of this book) contradicted other ones. I'm pleased they were all included, but I think the Historical note at the end should have touched on this and explained it better. Earlier on in the book there were a lot of footnotes saying things like "So and so was mistaken when they wrote this" that were EXTREMELY helpful in getting a picture of what was going on, but then this petered out towards the end and I was a little confused. It makes my personal research a little more difficult, is all.
My last nitpick is that there aren't nearly enough pictures -- hardly any, and most of them are official portraits, not even photographs.
Still, for when this was published, the content is very good.
Overall, I highly recommend this book.
Life-long Passion is a book of letters, diary entries, and memoir pieces from the Romanovs and those closest to them. They are arranged in chronological order, starting with Nicholas Romanov as a young man with his father still alive and believing he has many years before he himself will have to become the Tsar of Russia. We see his reaction to meeting his future wife, Alice (Alexandra), as a twelve year old at Ella's wedding for the first time and, through their correspondence, see them fall in love in their own words. It's very beautiful. And, of course, tragic, as the collection of correspondence continues well into the war and his giving up the throne and the family's imprisonment.
The most interesting part of this collection for me were the letters by Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei, and I wish there had been more of those, as I adored them and learned a lot about each child's personality from them. I also loved the memoirs of Felix, Rasputin's murderer. He is a most fascinating historical figure, and he definitely had a way with words that make you feel quite charmed by him even years after his death. One can see why his wife Irina (cousin of the Romanov children) admired him and wanted him even with his messed up past and the unsavory rumors about him.
My least favorite parts were when the back and forth love letters of Nicholas and Alexandra didn't have enough breaks in-between them for historical background and to just a breather from their constant declarations of love. Just because I think they're adorable, doesn't mean I want to read page after page, after freaking page of "I love YOU, more, darling," "No, I love YOU, more, dearest wify..." (We get it... Lots of love... Moving on, if you please...)
Basically it's the historical and literary equivalent, of "No, YOU hang up first..." and it does kind of make one want to roll ones eyes after a while, no matter how cute they are. All of these letters were great, they just shouldn't have been so lumped together -- space those suckers out!
I also had a really hard time reading Yurovsky's accounts at the end. That was just uncomfortable. The way he causally talks about shooting an entire family in cold blood is just...ugh... I think this man might have been a sociopath... How else do you explain that? I mean, really. It's upsetting. Also, the accounts of how killers just snatched other Romanov family members (like the tsar's brother, and Alexandra's sister) from their beds at night more or less to murder them... It's like, dude, Russia is MESSED UP. Shakes head. Shame on you sickos. Sorry I can't articulate myself better on this subject, but since I'M not a sociopath, I find this really hard to stomach and express my feelings on. It's just plain sick.
Also, I found it somewhat irksome that certain documents presented about who was where during what event (mostly towards the end of this book) contradicted other ones. I'm pleased they were all included, but I think the Historical note at the end should have touched on this and explained it better. Earlier on in the book there were a lot of footnotes saying things like "So and so was mistaken when they wrote this" that were EXTREMELY helpful in getting a picture of what was going on, but then this petered out towards the end and I was a little confused. It makes my personal research a little more difficult, is all.
My last nitpick is that there aren't nearly enough pictures -- hardly any, and most of them are official portraits, not even photographs.
Still, for when this was published, the content is very good.
Overall, I highly recommend this book.
November 2, 2020
This book contains some good supplementary material in the introduction and the historical afterward, but most of the book is a collection of letters between Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia, and his wife Alexandra along with some of their diary entries. Additionally, there are many letters to and from other members of their family, from some of these family members back and forth to each other, and excerpts from some of the diaries and memoirs of some of these family members and friends. A handful of letters and memoirs of other people who impacted the history of this time and excerpts from a few historical documents are also sprinkled throughout.
The authors were connected with the state archives of the Russian Federation, and as such had access to the letters and other papers of the Tsar and his family. A few of the letters quoted are from the Royal Archives at Windsor.
It’s a bittersweet story about the close relationship between the Tsar and his wife against the increasingly turbulent background of turn-of-the-century Russia. They had four beautiful daughters before their long-awaited son was born. The lifelong illness of their son was their greatest worry as they didn’t want word about it to get out fearing that it would adversely affect his chances of eventually becoming Tsar.
The whole situation about Rasputin is covered pretty thoroughly. Rasputin turns out to be not much like I expected him to be. It appears that the main source of his influence over the Royal Family was that he was a hypnotist. He could use his hypnotic powers to relieve the pain of the Tsar’s son, Alexi, who suffered from hemophilia, when he had an attack. The other members of the immediate family seem to have used him for stress relief. More distant family members worried that Rasputin was exercising undue influence on them and tried to get them to distance themselves from him somehow.
The reports of the group of people who assassinated Rasputin are given in detail. All of them seemed to have been convinced that by killing him they were somehow saving Russia. It didn’t work. The biggest boost to Rasputin’s myth is that they found him almost impossible to kill. They tried poison, and shot him twice, and were convinced he was dead, but he kept getting back up.
Not long after that, the government disintegrated. The Tsar was forced to abdicate and his family was placed under house arrest. They lived for several months at the farm where they had spent most of their life anyway. Then they were sent to a place in Siberia for a while. Finally, they were taken to a town called Ekaterinburg. About this time, the provisional government which had been in charge of them was also toppled, and the more hardline Bolsheviks took over. Not long afterward the whole family, along with several servants, was shot and taken out into the woods to be buried. The bodies were not found until 1991, but it is now known that, despite persistent rumors that either the Tsar’s son or his youngest daughter escaped, none of them survived.
The authors were connected with the state archives of the Russian Federation, and as such had access to the letters and other papers of the Tsar and his family. A few of the letters quoted are from the Royal Archives at Windsor.
It’s a bittersweet story about the close relationship between the Tsar and his wife against the increasingly turbulent background of turn-of-the-century Russia. They had four beautiful daughters before their long-awaited son was born. The lifelong illness of their son was their greatest worry as they didn’t want word about it to get out fearing that it would adversely affect his chances of eventually becoming Tsar.
The whole situation about Rasputin is covered pretty thoroughly. Rasputin turns out to be not much like I expected him to be. It appears that the main source of his influence over the Royal Family was that he was a hypnotist. He could use his hypnotic powers to relieve the pain of the Tsar’s son, Alexi, who suffered from hemophilia, when he had an attack. The other members of the immediate family seem to have used him for stress relief. More distant family members worried that Rasputin was exercising undue influence on them and tried to get them to distance themselves from him somehow.
The reports of the group of people who assassinated Rasputin are given in detail. All of them seemed to have been convinced that by killing him they were somehow saving Russia. It didn’t work. The biggest boost to Rasputin’s myth is that they found him almost impossible to kill. They tried poison, and shot him twice, and were convinced he was dead, but he kept getting back up.
Not long after that, the government disintegrated. The Tsar was forced to abdicate and his family was placed under house arrest. They lived for several months at the farm where they had spent most of their life anyway. Then they were sent to a place in Siberia for a while. Finally, they were taken to a town called Ekaterinburg. About this time, the provisional government which had been in charge of them was also toppled, and the more hardline Bolsheviks took over. Not long afterward the whole family, along with several servants, was shot and taken out into the woods to be buried. The bodies were not found until 1991, but it is now known that, despite persistent rumors that either the Tsar’s son or his youngest daughter escaped, none of them survived.
June 12, 2019
No secondhand account is made more intimate than by the access of letters, diaries and memoirs of the people involved during the ominous reign of the last tsar, Nicholas II and the prosperous and happy years before that. A devoted family man, a dutiful son and loving husband, Nicky did not desire the role of a ruler despite being destined to it. His weak foundation has made him ineffective especially in the face of various scandals that have rocked his rule while suffering from an indecision that always leads him to go for the last opinion presented to him.
In his domestic life, Nicky shares a steadfast and enduring relationship with Alix of Hesse, whom he was deeply devoted with until the end. Their turbulent family life has been constantly afflicted by their struggle for an heir which had been unsuccessful after a series of female births. Having desperately clung for a miracle, the Tsarina resorted to a spiritual fanaticism. A son was then born, only for it to be constantly plagued with a close brush with death due to hemophilia. Desperate to save the heir's life, the tsarina sought the intervention of a staretz Rasputin, who was able to temporarily put an end to the heir's suffering through hypnosis. The influence of Rasputin towards the imperial family has grown momentum with the aid of Alix's blind fanaticism that even some of the members of the family had to interfere. Dismissing the negative remarks as slander, Alix and in turn Nicky distanced themselves from the family.
Political unrest had been rampant around the same time and had been fueled after the grisly event called Bloody Sunday and their staggering loss during their advance against the Germans. A civil war had broken out within Russia and with the imperial family suffering internal conflicts after Rasputin's murder and a string of morganatic marriages, the Romanov rule was on its way to its doom.
I've read various accounts about the Romanovs, one was by Robert Massie which was also an interesting and superb read with its well-researched and documented series of events. This book is a great addition for an in-depth learning of the last Tsar and the events that had taken place before Nicky's rule up until their execution in 1918, putting an end to a three century tsarist regime in Russia and opening the gates towards a communist rule.
In his domestic life, Nicky shares a steadfast and enduring relationship with Alix of Hesse, whom he was deeply devoted with until the end. Their turbulent family life has been constantly afflicted by their struggle for an heir which had been unsuccessful after a series of female births. Having desperately clung for a miracle, the Tsarina resorted to a spiritual fanaticism. A son was then born, only for it to be constantly plagued with a close brush with death due to hemophilia. Desperate to save the heir's life, the tsarina sought the intervention of a staretz Rasputin, who was able to temporarily put an end to the heir's suffering through hypnosis. The influence of Rasputin towards the imperial family has grown momentum with the aid of Alix's blind fanaticism that even some of the members of the family had to interfere. Dismissing the negative remarks as slander, Alix and in turn Nicky distanced themselves from the family.
Political unrest had been rampant around the same time and had been fueled after the grisly event called Bloody Sunday and their staggering loss during their advance against the Germans. A civil war had broken out within Russia and with the imperial family suffering internal conflicts after Rasputin's murder and a string of morganatic marriages, the Romanov rule was on its way to its doom.
I've read various accounts about the Romanovs, one was by Robert Massie which was also an interesting and superb read with its well-researched and documented series of events. This book is a great addition for an in-depth learning of the last Tsar and the events that had taken place before Nicky's rule up until their execution in 1918, putting an end to a three century tsarist regime in Russia and opening the gates towards a communist rule.
October 30, 2023
This was a fascinating and horrifying selection of letters, diaries and memoirs showing the best and worst of humanity. Whilst despairing of the naivety and arrogance of Nicholas and Alendra, I had to admire their devotion to each other and their children. The brutality and day to day callous cruelty of their captors in the last 16 or so months of their lives and the viciousness both of their deaths and those of family members was truly shocking and shameful. We all know of the vile and self interested machinations of the British royal family and government but it still made for breathtakingly shocking reading when you actually saw the exchange of letters, telegrams and memos.
An incredible collection of primary source material that, regrettably, I don’t think would make publication in today’s Russia.
An incredible collection of primary source material that, regrettably, I don’t think would make publication in today’s Russia.
January 13, 2018
Sometimes with historical figures, it's easy to forget that they are ultimately just people too. Containing diary entries and letters on an almost day-to-day basis, you will not get any conclusions or overviews of historical fact. It is primarily a love story of sorts. So be aware of that. But you do get interesting insights on their relationship, politics, and feelings of both Nicholas and Alexandra, as well as those close to them. Things you sometimes do not get a substantial amount of in history books. A nice change of pace to the usual history that I read.
May 7, 2021
A voyeuristic reading about private and intimate letters from the family and cut from the Romanovs.
A long Russian "passion", of the fall of a dynasty, shrouded in mysticism, fanaticism, revolution, with interesting historical characters and of course tragic deaths.
Above all in the Russian spotlight is the love and devotion that Czar Nicholas and Czarina Alexandra had for each other and for the family, something that isolated them from "reality", from the people and from the imperial family itself ...
A long Russian "passion", of the fall of a dynasty, shrouded in mysticism, fanaticism, revolution, with interesting historical characters and of course tragic deaths.
Above all in the Russian spotlight is the love and devotion that Czar Nicholas and Czarina Alexandra had for each other and for the family, something that isolated them from "reality", from the people and from the imperial family itself ...
June 11, 2017
An amazing work with a wealth of information. Not only do we get to see some of Nicholas and Alix's personal correspondence and diaries, we see letters, diaries and other memorandum from their relatives, friends, ministers and others that corroborate the information.
There were so many people involved in the drama that was Imperial Russia. It's so interesting to see their point of view in their own words.
There were so many people involved in the drama that was Imperial Russia. It's so interesting to see their point of view in their own words.
September 20, 2018
I picked up this book for £1 in I discount store. It is without doubt one of the best researched books of the end of the Romanov dynasty. The authors offer no judgement or contemporary analysis of the account, just simply an almost daily diary of the Romanov family ( also royal children, state official and Bolshevik agitators). An excellent read for those who love quality history books
November 9, 2025
Splendid. An inside peek at the life of the last Czar of Russia. Admittedly, I was already a huge fan of this time period, but this collection of letters was stunning. Showing the private letters from members of the whole royal family, along with assorted friends and relatives, the collection brings the story to life – and makes its inevitable ending even more horrible.
May 3, 2018
It was a little challenging to keep all the characters straight. I never realized how close the Romanov were to all the other royals around the (western) world. Tragic on many levels but also full of sincere love. Literate and multilingual! Interesting in a boring way.
February 22, 2023
Amazing. The format is great with the letters and diaries and memoir excerpts in chronological order. The tension really builds as we get closer to the family's execution. The love that they all had for each other was really lovely to read and heartbreaking knowing how it was all going to end.
May 22, 2018
This book was heartbreaking. Very interesting to read diary entries of the Romanovs. It was sad to even read the entries of the assassins. Such a tragedy.
November 21, 2019
Much more interesting than I expected. A wonderful insight into the European royal families generally and a good way to understand the events that led up to the murders of the Russian royal family.
February 23, 2021
It's the third time I've read this book and I still love it just as much as the first time!!!
January 24, 2024
really cool thing i learned from this is that Nicholas and Alexandra were a very rare example of a royal couple that was actually madly in love with each other. they are cousins tho 😬
November 12, 2024
if nobody got me, i know thick non-fiction books following a mildly unsympathetic family to the bitter end around the turn of the century got me
August 14, 2025
Too long to finish but very interesting! This book summarized nicely: The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia
March 6, 2015
I picked up this book because my grandfather fought in the Tsar's army during World War I and I wanted to know more about the Tsar, his wife, and his family who were eventually executed by the Bolsheviks. This is a very hefty read, close to 700 pages. The author used the letters and diaries of those in the royal family as well those of the people who knew them. It's a stunning read. I was surprised to learn how religious the royal family was, and how much their faith dictated their behaviour. It was also surprising how ignorant they were as well about the people under their rule. How they could continue to live so lavishly when the majority of people were just getting by is hard to fathom. But we are living in a time today, when that kind of wealth still exists and those who live in luxury are blinded to the plights of others. Fascinating story well told.
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