Historical Context as Needed Today

books:


	• Nicholas & Alexandra Robert K. Massie Scribner, 1972 - 608 pages average customer review:based on 108 reviews
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highly recommended

A great book for the most part

But there are a few errors in it. For example, Massie states that Nicholas was 13 when his grandfather Alexander II died when actually he was a couple of months shy of his 13th birthday. Massie also says that Queen Victoria approved of the marriage when it is very obvious through her letters that she did not. The Queen had nothing against Nicholas personally, but felt that the Russian throne was very unstable and didn't wish her granddaughter to be a part of it. There are a few other mistakes, but overall it was an enjoyable read.

Simply Excellent

The story of Nicholas and Alexandra has all the elements of a great novel: complex characters, plot twists, and an exciting conclusion. But, it's all true. Robert Massie wrote this history in 1967, but it is still relevant to today. In these days of democracy, it is enlightening to learn about the times when monarchy and autocracy were the words of the day. Robert Massie's book is excellently written. It is consistently clear, and at all times a pleasure to read. The biography has a wide scope, it covers just about everything relating to the Tsar and the Tsaritsa from the time of their marriage to the time of their death. You don't often see biographies of two people in one book. But to understand Nicholas, you must understand Alexandra. And, by the end of this book, you will have a better undserstanding of why events played out the way they did.

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still reading but:

this a wonderfull book! the best on the romanovs! If you are interested in them just recently or for a long period of time this is the book for you! tells all about their lives and how they lived, how they traveled, where they lived, etc.! Robert K. Massie write wonderfull books!

A masterpiece

This book is an absolute must for anyone who wants to learn more about the last days of the Romanovs. Massie has outdone himself. The book is non-fiction, but has all the makings of a great historical novel--political intrigue, war, family life, not to mention a good love story. As a Romanov buff who has read many books on the family, this is the best by far.

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Historical Context as Needed Today

This book is not just an excellent biography of Tsar Nicholas but provides both a valuable historical insight into past events which provide understanding of recent events this past decade. Bosnia/Sarajevo almost became a recent flashpoint for a war with Russia; the book reveals Austria-Hungary with German backing annexed Bosnia in 1908 with Germany forcing the Tsar/Serbia to recognize this annexation. Also, Imperial Germany had second thoughts on backing Lenin/Trotsky and tried to bring the Tsar back to Moscow to ratify the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, and essentially make him a puppet regime of Berlin. Massie reveals this intrigue and how it failed leaving a reader as myself with the conclusion Germany created a Frankenstein in smuggling Lenin into Russia to pursue its war aims.
On another level Massie brings home to the reader how much personal family matters intrude into important matters of statecraft, appointments to high office, and military matters. This is a book which Russian officials today should read if they hope to bring sanity back to their dying country whose death-rate far exceeds its birth-rate. In our inter-dependent world those who despair of the future can do serious harm to others as well as to themselves. And all peoples can learn from the travails and circumstances of others.
No doubt that Robert K Massie has made an important contribution to our understanding of the past which heavily influences contemporary society today. As I write this the United Nations Security Council stands challenged by U.S. President George W. Bush to inspect and disarm Iraq of all weapons of mass destruction. The world stands at a moment of decision and even faces the possibility of nuclear war should military action against Baghdad trigger a response and counter-response leading to regional destabilization and a firestorm. Russia particularly must anguish through a difficult decision process and has suffered under a closed-thought political system where information readily available to Westerners, as in this book, has not entered into the Russian market-place of ideas.I thus feel compelled to urge others to get this book into Russian officialdom by every creative measure.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, page 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19

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