Product Description

The Romanov dynasty ruled Russia for little over three hundred years and its dramatic end exerts a lasting fascination. This book serves to widen the picture, looking at the lives and grand palaces of individual Romanovs during the last century of imperial rule. It was a time of contrasts, during which the Tsars reached the peak of their wealth, prestige and power, yet also faced the growth of forces that would lead to their destruction. In 1817, a hundred years before the revolution, the first Tsar Nicholas and Alexandra were married in the Winter Palace. Beginning here, the book continues with the stories of their successors, Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II, each trying to steer his own course between reform and repression. Stories of lesser known characters in the Russian royal family and ordinary people who crossed their paths are also told revealing details of their daily lives in the palaces which were their homes. The authors detailed knowledge of the imperial palaces as they were and as they are today gives the stories life, while her use of archive material only recently revealed casts new light on the Romanovs. Richly illustrated with many previously unpublished photographs and the author's line drawings, "Romanov Autumn" will appeal to all those interested in the remarkable and tragic history of the Russian Imperial family.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #478690 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

About the Author
Charlotte Zeepvat is a freelance writer and Deputy Editor of the magazine Royalty Digest. She is the author of Queen Victoria's Family, Queen Victoria's Youngest Son, The Camera and the Tsars and Brought up by Britannia. She lives in Sussex.

Customer Reviews

Portraits of the Romanov dynasty
This is the second book on the latter years of the Romanov dynasty from Sutton Publishing within two years, and it is interesting to compare them. The first, by Van der Kiste, tells the story in one chronological narrative from the birth of Alexander II in 1818 to the death of his his youngest daughter in 1959. This, on the other hand, is basically a collection of articles on members of the family, and while it is fun to dip into, it does involve a certain amount of overlapping and repetition in referring to events. Ms Zeepvat's enthusiasm for and insight into their personalities is evident, but I found her text sometimes lacking in objectivity, as if she is so passionately devoted to her subjects that she cannot bear to say a word against any of them. The defensive account of Grand Duke Serge in this book rings less true than the harsher, more detached and arguably more realistic analysis of his character in the other title. Her line drawings are attractive, but the quality of some of the plates leaves much to be desired. Also I agree with the previous reviewer; her insistence on using the Russian names (e.g. Pavel for Paul) is distracting, and her obsession with 'Grand Prince' in preference to 'Grand Duke' irritating. She expends considerable energy in the front of the book explaining why, but it all seems rather unnecessary. Other authors have followed the Anglicised names and 'Grand Duke' style for years, so what is the point of being different for the sake of it? ...

Very special book
This is one of my favourite books on Imperial Russia, Charlotte Zeepvat introduces new underdiscovered members of this family like Grand Princess Elena and Princess Helen of Serbia who both married in to the Imperial family. I have read this book many times and have given it to a lot of my friends who do not have the interest in the Romanov family that I have but they have all enjoyed it. Buy this book you won,t be dissappointed.

easy to read
I enjoyed this book very much. I liked the author's approach of having several short vignettes about various Romanov characters, their homes, even their servants. It is an easy book to dip into and you can read the chapters out of sequence, thus reading about your favourites first! Funnily enough, whereas in her last book on Prince Leopold I found her own drawings rather irksome (see reviews), in this book they are enchanting and form a beautiful beginning to each chapter. The only thing that I found difficult was the author's insistence on going against tradition and calling the Grand Dukes and Duchesses with the title 'Grand Prince' or 'Grand Princess' - she justifies her actions well in the introduction but nevertheless it does irritate, as does her insistence on not using the Anglicised versions of their names, eg Ekaterina instead of Catherine, Pavel instead of Paul etc. Call me old fashioned....! Nevertheless, once you get over that hurdle this is an absorbing read.