Product Description

The Romanov dynasty ruled Russia for a little over 300 years. The story of the dynasty's dramatic end has exerted a lasting fascination. This book seeks to widen the picture, looking at the lives of members of the family during the last century of imperial rule, and setting this into the context of the grand palaces in which they lived. It was a time of contrasts, a period in which the Tsars reached the peak of their wealth, prestige and power, yet also faced the growth of forces which would destroy them. In 1817, 100 years before the Revolution, the first Nicholas and Alexander were married in the Winter Palace. This book tells their story, and the stories of their successors, Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II, each trying to steer their own course. It also looks at the lives of their sisters and brothers, and other members of the large Russian royal family, detailing their daily lives.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #974367 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review
"'...a signficant advance in our understanding of the last century of Imperial Russia...full of entertaining and fascinating character portraits...an Impressive achievement' Royalty Digest; '...explores in fascinating detail how the Romanov family came under threat during the 19th century' Sunday Express"

About the Author
Charlotte Zeepvat is a freelance writer and Historical Consultant of Royalty Digest. Her first book, Prince Leopold: The Untold Story of Queen Victoria's Youngest Son, (ISBN 0 7509 2292 3) was published to widespread acclaim in 1998. 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.