The Last Tsar: The Life and Death of Nicholas II

A man is sitting at a book-covered table in the Central State Archive of the October (1917) Revolution in Moscow. The surviving diaries of the last imperial family of Russia are there, unclassified at last. Reading them, his thoughts carrying him back and forth in time, the man is moved when he finds pressed flowers in the journals of the tsar's daughters: "Souvenirs of a destroyed life". Edvard Radzinsky is that haunted man, sitting at a table strewn with memories of a broken dynasty. "The Last Tsar" is the product of his research and his sadness. A playwright, Raszinsky is well-qualified to explore the human depths of the lives of Tsar Nicholas II, his family, and the others who were part of their doomed world. The book gained a great deal of publicity when it was first released here for its sensational assertion that two of the family may have escaped execution on that terrible night in 1918. And this work of popular history merits the attention. This book is likely to become the definitive work on the last years of Tsar Nicholas II and his family. Rarely is a work of history so beautifully written, so thoroughly researched, and so permeated with emotion and insight. A great debt is owed to the translator for her lyrical and poetic voice while retaining a sense of historical authority. Radzinsky's attitudes and feelings are juxtaposed with those of the two main characters of the story-- Tsar Nicholas and his queen, Alexandra. The inclusion of the author's feelings is unorthodox in a historical work however, in this case, it's a success and it offers a perspective that is both personal and realistic. The tone of the book is conversational rather than scholarly. It is not difficult to imagine Radzinsky weeping as he sits at the table covered with diaries, though he does not say he did. Certainly, the depth and honesty of his feelings are so evident that we find it difficult to hold back tears ourselves as the tragedy of the Romanov family unfolds. Radzinsky has a deep respect for the dead Tsar and his wife, but he clearly loves those children. They are the classic innocence, doomed by the destruction of their grand and insulated world. In the early 90s, exhumation of what is assumed to be the family's grave revealed only nine skeletons. Although the accepted number of victims has always been put at eleven. Even more recently, two bodies were found nearby to the execution site and burial site that some experts believe to be the missing bodies. The book and the forensic examination raise again the persistant belief that not only the Princess Anastasia, but also the Tsar Evitch Alexi, heir to the Russian throne may have survived the execution. However, these most recent exhumations near the main burial pit appear to show that neither Alexi nor Anastasia survived. One of the participants in the execution later wrote that Alexi and his four sisters remained alive after the shooting had stopped. "This had amazed the Commandan

This is hands down the best book written on the last Tsar (and I've read my fair share of books!) and his family!! I've always been fascinated by this family and what they were like and how they lived. This book not only gives a great insight into their lives, but also pieces together what happened the night they were executed (and leaves you to draw your own conclusions about whether you think anyone survived). A definate MUST READ for everyone!!

I am Russian and my family background is not peasant at all, so I have been always interested in Romanov's history and sympathized with Tsar before I had red the book. The book has only strengthened the feelings of sympathy and sorrow I feel for the last Russian Tsar. The reviews I have red above are obviously written by Western readers, who have studied the Russian history but don't possess the Russian mentality, so doesn't see the role of personalities in Russian politics, the place of religion the same way Russians do. Perhaps, because of that, in my opinion, they are missing the main point. It is not a political pamphlet or historical textbook. It is an account of one family's life. In the book by Radzinsky Tsar is shown as a person - a boy, a young men in love, a father, a husband, a prisoner, and only lastly - a ruler & politician. When Radzinsky looks at the Romanovs he looks at them as a family - that's my understanding. So in brief I would describe this book as "A story of a family". Probably as a Russian (and I hope not Soviet) I can feel some things about the book as an insider and will try to express it. It is very important to understand how religious were both Nicolay and Alexandra and how it all fits in the scheme of his somewhat fatalistic approach to his rule, to Rasputin, to war and revolutions. I can see how shy, naïve and kind young men has to take over a rule in one-sixth of the Globe and it is no easy task, never has been. Radzinsky shows clearly that Nicolas was kept ill-informed and hence some of the worst mistakes he made in politics. He was always torn between his Father's will to keep country under authoritarian rule of Tsars and desire to improve the life of his people, between desire to make his rule entirely peaceful and having to start war in Japan, between his Mother and his wife, between Vitte and Stolipin. From Radzinsky's account many events which we knew from Soviet text books look entirely different. Khodynka, after which Tsar went to dance at French embassador's party and didn't punish Moscow Governer Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, Bloody Sunday, Revolution of 1905 - it all seems like huge misfortunes of thorn, indecisive, and yet kind, smart and decent Nicolas. And then after 1905 we see how he changes, "getting used to blood and becoming more rigid in his politics". The almost military regimen with field courts and "Stolipin's ties". But it all seems understandable if one imagines his family threatened. Again, it is if the reader is willing to see Nicolay - the father, not just a Tsar. Even the understanding of all the dreadful mistakes Nicolay probably had made as a ruler doesn't diminish the anger against the murderers of his family, the sadness of the loss of such a colorful and charming part of Russian history and culture. From my family accounts - Russian people - either peasants or not - never lived worse then when ruled by Commies and during Perestroika. Ultimately, since Alexander II, Russia

Although I've studied Russian history, I have never been that fascinated by Nicholas II. However, I got this book as a gift and found it quite interesting.What makes this book special is not so much Radzinsky's account of Nicholas' last days but his access to Communist archives that let him reconstruct how and why the Bolshevik leadership decided on killing Nicholas as they did. (Apparently this was done to thwart Trotsky, who wanted a public trial of Nicholas with himself as prosecutor.)Also fascinating is Radzinsky's account of the subsequent careers of Nicholas' murderers, how they became minor league Communist celebrities, telling Komsomol (youth group) assemblies how they had shot the Tsar. This went on until Stalin decided they had become drunken embarassments and kept them out of the public eye.So I would say if you want a book that looks at the last days of Nicholas from a broader perspective, this is the book to get.

This very factual and well-written book is, in my opinion, the very best on the life and death of Tsar Nicholas II and his family. Replete with both historical and familial details, it reads like a well-plotted, well-characterized fiction novel. The book, however, is all the more horrifying and heartbreaking because it is true. Unlike some of the previous reviewers, I enjoyed Radzinsky's writing style and consider him to be the ultimate authority on all matters Romanov. The only book more factual may be Nicholas and Alexandra, A Lifelong Passion which consists solely of the family's letters. The Last Tsar is definitely a must read for those interested in Romanov Russia and a book that will be enjoyable to all.