ALEXANDRA : The last Tsarina

Despite what the other reviewers wrote, Carrolly Erickson is an extremely gifted historian and author and ALEXANDRA is a probing but sympathetic look at a tragic historical figure. As is to be expected with Ms. Erickson's books, the writing is vivid and engaging. Ms. Erickson took a complex subject matter -- not just Tsarina Alexandra, but the Russian political climate of her time -- and made it easy to understand for the casual historian. An observation: I have long been a student/collector of all things relating to Marie Antoinette and I have read Ms. Erickson's book TO THE SCAFFOLD. I was surprised she did not make the connections between Antoinette and Alexandra - for surely there were many. Both women were vilified by their husband's subjects. Antoinette was called the Austrian Whore, Alexandra the German Whore. Both women attempted to learn French - and both women struggled with the language. Both women responded to criticism in childish ways (Antoinette, in leading a frivilous life, thereby lending credence to the pamphleteers charges. Alexandra, by drawing spiteful portraits). Perhaps Ms. Erickson would consider writing a book titled: The Shared Traits of Tragic Queens - Josephine, Antoinette, AlexandraMy only negative comment would be that Ms. Erickson seemed to provide little original information. A perusal of her FOOTNOTES shows that she relied heavily on previously written biographies.Still, all in all, a fabulously enthralling read.

This was a wonderful story of Alexandra life in Russia. There was only one depressing part; I thought it would include more of her life as a German, but it is good without it. Ms. Erickson always includes little details about the person's life so you can understand them better. As in Carolly Erickson's Josephine, Ms. Erickson includes the mass quanties of stockings, gloves and other accessories Josephine used a day. In Alexandra, Ms. Erickson includes that Alexandra like to keep everything neat and orderly. Then Ms. Erickson includes how this affects how Alexandra lived.I recommend this book (and all of Carolly Erickson's books) to anyone who is even barely interested in history.

This was an excellent read on Alexanda. I have read nearly all the books available about the Romanov dynasty and there were several facts in this book I had not read prior. This book stayed focused on the Tsarina herself and doesn't stray too far from her even though the Tsarvich's illness is addressed. This book explored her relationship within the court and the power struggles with her mother-in-law, the former Empress. Alexandra had her flaws to be sure but comes across as so human in this particular book. The author's style is so good I am now reading The First Elizabeth and have purchased Josephine and The Great Catherine to read in the near future. This author knows her subjects and stays refreshingly focused on the personality she writes about rather than jumping around. A very good read.

I definitely confess to having a weakness for all things Russian including accounts of the Romanovs. While I wasn't sure what to expect from Carolly Erickson, I was extremely pleased with her most recent book, "Alexandra: The Last Tsarina". Other reviews have labeled the work "history lite" and I do see what they mean - very little time spent on Alexandra's views and influences politically (for which there exists substantial documentation as viewed in the Romanov classic "Nicholas and Alexandra" by Robert K. Massie) - it would have taken up too much page space describing political climates and individual personalitites. Nicholas also appears to be an intellectual lightweight with very little mind of his own. While he was easily influenced, there exists a decent amount of material indicating Nicholas' frustrations with his wife and her often highly emotional views (see Massie). However, Erickson should not be faulted for her excellent and highly readable prose. Russia of this era truely comes alive and a real sense of Alexandra's world helps aid the reader in making decisions about her behavior.Also contradicting a below review, I definitely feel that Erickson's book has brought out at least two major new contributions to the scholarly work about the Romanovs. Namely, bringing to light the fixation of Nicholas and Alexandra with the French mystic, Phillippe Vachot, one time butcher then hypnotist and charlatan to the aristocracy. Their reliance on his judgements and spiritual healing so early in their marriage and reign is incredibly predictive of their later dependency on Rasputin, down to their referring to Vachot as "our friend" in correspondance to one another. The fact that Vachot stated prior to his death that he would be reincarnated in another man who would come to give them spiritual guidance, all but cemented the later easy acceptance of Rasputin. The second of Erickson's contribution centers around a more detailed account of Alexandra's ongoing health problems (someone with chronic leg pain is going to hate balls and receptions involving hours spent on her feet, regardless of her shyness) many of them mental in nature. Also, how easily accepted drugs of their period (barbituates and cocaine) were used by both Nicholas and Alexandra as little was known of side effects by physicians of the time. This drug use (which occurs right around WWI and the downfall of the monarchy) could only have greatly infuenced decisions made in a completely autocratic government.An excellent work and one worthy of reading by any Russian scholar interested in the time period and Romanov dynasty.

Carolly Erickson has turned out another in her series of well written, engaging, biographies. Alexandra: the Last Tsarina draws upon much of the same material on which other Romanov biographers such as Robert K. Massie have relied. Therefore if you are a long time student of Nicholas and Alexandra and their times you won't find a lot of new material here. What new material there is, and the interpretations Erickson makes of the more familiar information, is quite interesting. Erickson shows Alexandra to have been an intelligent, complex woman who enjoyed reading philosophy, who had a sometimes cruel sense of humor (she drew nasty caricatures of her husband and members of the court), and who could be decisive and determined when her husband was passive and fatalistic. Alexandra's maternal qualities are also emphasized, including her insistence on breast feeding her children and on personally nursing them through their illnesses. Other biographers have discussed this last point, but usually only in connection with her son's hemophilia. Now we know that the Empress also sat up all night with her daughters. Erickson does a good job of describing Alexandra's own ailments, including several miscarriages (which have never been discussed by other biographers), a false pregnancy, and what appears to have been an extended depression.I would give this book five stars, but I am troubled by some of Erickson's sources and her lack of documentation. She seems to have relied on the memoirs of one maid for most of her information on Alexandra's early married years and ignored (or at least not cited) much of the other material used by other authors which deal with that period. Furthermore, Erickson states that Alexis had a hernia operation in 1912, with her source apparently being the highly doubtful memoirs of Rasputin's daughter. I'm no doctor, but I wonder how anyone would dare operate on any hemophiliac in 1912, let alone the only son of the Tsar. I've read quite a few Romanov books and I've never heard of such an operation before. It also bothers me that very little attention is paid to Alexandra's deep religious beliefs, which caused her to believe in Rasputin's healing powers to the very end.Even though I have these concerns, I still enjoyed Alexandra: The Last Tsarina very much, especially Erickson's insights into the Empress's inner emotions and the way she misunderstood and was misunderstood by Russian society.