Anastasia: The Riddle of Anna Anderson

It was a great pleasure for me to read Peter Kurth's book. I have read most of the books written about the Anna Anderson/Anastasia affair and I find Mr. Kurth's book to be the best due to the extensive amount of research he has performed. Although the DNA "evidence" has concluded that Anna Anderson Manahan was a polish factory worker...I still believe that she was indeed Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicolaevna Romanov. I would highly recommend Peter Kurth's book to anyone interested in this subject because it provides an opportunity to learn about all of the other overwhelming evidence in Mrs. Manahan's favor that contradicts the DNA results.

The tragedy of the life of Anastasia is multifaceted: She knew the love her family, appreciating the richness of the world around her until the tragic day in 1918 when all was taken from her so horribly: the torture of the masacre of her family, her survival only to be raped, her lifelong suffering from brain damage, tuberculosis and psychological problems. Topped off with the denial of the one thing we all take absolutely for granted- her very identity. While she suffered the mental anguish of her memories and tried to forget the masacre, her relatives kept testing her with questions that only brought the past back to haunt her again and again. Yet most of them only did this to deny she was Anastasia, and never gave her the love and protection a family must. The story is magnificently presented with compassion and clarity. All the details are there- the events leading up to the masacre of the Romanovs, the early details of Mrs. Anderson's return to public scrutiny, the complicated trials and associated cast of charaters. After reading this book, one is certain it is she. The final riddle is only how the DNA test was "fixed" to arrive at the results that deny Anna Anderson her true identity even from the grave.

I have always been keenly interested in Anastasia/Anna Anderson and this well written book was quite an education! Despite the "DNA evidence", I truly believe that this woman was exactly who she claimed to be. Mr. Kurth's research was well done and the information jumped out at me as though I were there myself. She was fortunate to have such a champion on her side.

I read this book after seeing "Anastasia", starring Ingrid Bergmen. This book held my attention the entire time. As I read the book I realized the trials this woman went through just to prove who she was. She was a lost soul, and whether or not she was the Grand Duchess Anastasia, your heart can't help but go out to this orphan. She was also a woman who was haunted by ghosts and suffered from depression. She was someone who truly needed love and a family. The two things she was always denied. I took this book to class with me everyday. (I'm sixteen years old) and I read it with eager interest, somtimes forgetting about my homework. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Kurth's book is a splendid account of the odd, beguiling and unique character that was Anna Anderson. The book, drawing from many unpublished sources, explains in detail the enthralling story of Anna's pathetic and tragic life. He details how recent DNA evidence is wrong by poking serious holes in the theory that Anna was the missing Polish factory worker Franziska Shantkovska. A wonderfull book and the best biography (with the exception of:Anastasia Survivor of Ekaterinburg by Harriet Von Kielmann-Rathlef 1929) on Anna to date.