Product Description

Praise for The Court of the Last Tsar



"Any book by Greg King is a book to be kept and savored. He has not only given us a fresh, clear–eyed, and often startling new look at the life of the last Romanovs, but also lived up to the promise of his title. He has shown us how the whole enterprise worked, from Tsar Nicholas to his lowest cook and chambermaid. This book is a great work of scholarship––and a wonderful read."
––Peter Kurth, author of Tsar: The Lost World of Nicholas and Alexandra and Anastasia: The Riddle of Anna Anderson

"A mammoth, monumental achievement. No other book captures the essence and the entire scope of life at the court of Nicholas II. It′s a thoroughly enjoyable and encyclopedic masterpiece that will be a major source for historians and biographers for years to come."
––Marlene A. Eilers, author of Queen Victoria′s Descendants and publisher of Royal Book News

"Greg King has truly written a tour de force. The book is extremely well researched, has over 100 illustrations and is, quite simply, marvelous."
––Coryne Hall, author of Little Mother of Russia, Once a Grand Duchess, and Imperial Dancer

"Greg King is emerging as one of the leading authorities in today′s liveliest field of Russian studies, and this is a major contribution to the study of late Imperial Russia."
––Joseph T. Fuhrmann, author of Rasputin and the editor of The Complete Wartime Correspondence of Tsar Nicholas II and the Empress Alexandra

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #65233 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-28
• Released on: 2006-03-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 576 pages

Review
"...so completely approached the ear from a cultural standpoint...great companion to Russian Revolution and Nicholas and Alexandra collections in all libraries." (Library Journal, February 15, 2006)

"...for those who are intrigued by the Russian high court, there is no better escort." (Publishers Weekly, November 28, 2005)

"…fascinating, exotic, indispensable." ( The Sunday Telegraph, December 2006)

Review
"...so completely approached the ear from a cultural standpoint...great companion to Russian Revolution and Nicholas and Alexandra collections in all libraries." (Library Journal, February 15, 2006)

"...for those who are intrigued by the Russian high court, there is no better escort." (Publishers Weekly, November 28, 2005)

"…fascinating, exotic, indispensable." ( The Sunday Telegraph, December 2006)

From the Inside Flap
It was the most magnificent court in Europe—a world of fairy–tale opulence, ornate architecture, sophisticated fashion, extravagant luxury, and immense power. In the last Russian imperial court, a potent underlying mythology drove its participants to enact the pageantry of medieval, Orthodox Russia—infused with the sensibilities of Versailles—against a backdrop of fading Edwardian splendor, providing a spectacle of archaic ceremonies carefully orchestrated as a lavish stage upon which Nicholas II played out his tumultuous reign.

While a massive body of literature has been devoted to the last of the Romanovs, The Court of the Last Tsar is the first book to examine the people, mysteries, traditions, scandals, rivalries, rituals, and riches that were part of everyday life in the last two decades of the Romanov dynasty.

It is as difficult for the twenty–first–century mind to imagine the pomp and splendor that accompanied the tsar and his family everywhere they went as it was for the simple Russian peasant toiling a thousand miles from St. Petersburg. This stunningly illustrated volume removes the mystery with twenty–four pages of breathtaking color photos; more than eighty black–and–white photos; floor plans of the tsar′s Winter Palace, the Alexander Palace, and the Grand Kremlin Palace; a map of St. Petersburg; and plans of the imperial parks at Tsarskoye Selo and Peterhof.

This eye–popping tour of hedonistic imperial Russia on the edge of oblivion draws on hundreds of previously unpublished primary sources, including memoirs, personal letters, diary entries, and official documents collected during author Greg King′s fifteen years of research in Russia and elsewhere in Europe. It invites you to experience dozens of extravagant ceremonies and entertainments attended only by members of the court; exposes the numerous sexual intrigues of the imperial family, including rape, incest, and brazen affairs; and introduces many of the more than fifteen thousand individuals who made the imperial court a society unto itself.

Chief among these, of course, was Tsar Nicholas II. He ruled an empire that stretched over one–sixth of the earth′s land surface but lacked, according to one courtier, both his father′s inspiring presence and his mother′s vibrant charm. His wife, Alexandra, was a strong and passionate woman who "never developed the social skills necessary to her rank." Their wedding and the tsar′s coronation are two of the most spectacular ceremonies described in this lavish volume.

Vetted with care by the last remaining members of the Russian imperial court, The Court of the Last Tsar brings the people, places, and events of this doomed but unforgettable wonderland to vivid and sparkling life.

Customer Reviews

An absolute must for all interested in the last Romanov court
Having read many books on Nicolas and Alexandra, biographies and auto-biographies of many members on or by members of the Imperial Family I thought I had a already a pretty clear picture of the Imperial House and the life style of its very members.

But there was so much more to learn about it as this excellent proved. For the first time one books brings all these little bits and pieces together which one catches while reading other books on the Romanovs at the turn of the last century. So instead of a fragmentised one suddenly gets in one go the full picture. Georgy Greg covers not only the Imperial Family and their personalities but the whole set up of the court, the structure of it. He covers more or less as aspect of Imperial life. So he puts Nicolas II and his family into "their setting".
So by this one learns even more about Nicolas and Alexandra herself, but as well about other members of the Romanov clan. Mr. King is pretty clear about things, does not cover up and paints the picture of the "saintly Czar".

All in all, a book I immensely enjoyed and can highly recommend.

Marvellous!
A truly fabulous book that takes you step by step through the Palace corridors and lets you meet the people behind the names. For anyone interested in Russian history, or fascinated by the tragedy that was Nicholas and Alexandra, this book is a must have, must read, must keep.