Aaaah. The Romanovs. The subject of my research for the past 15 years. The subject of three of my graduation works :D Helen Rappaport is not the MOST reliable author out there, but this book was a good one for sure (though she kind of dismisses Maria Nikolaevna as much as everybody else - something I cannot condone). Also, from this book, you have a feeling the girls lived in a convent. They did not. They actually had very active social lives, just not with people who were considered high society. I recommend at least leaf through their diaries and correspondence (edited and published in the past few years by Helen Azar) so you can see they were really not "sheltered" from people. Just the circle of their company was different from what was "normal" for their station. Rappaport, much like Greg King, likes to embellish and from time to time becomes too sensational. Yep, the babies were HUGE :D Anastasia was the largest I believe - though she later was the shortest among them. I blame Romanov genes for this - petite Nicholas was an exception (got it from his own mother). I loved listening to all of your impressions and insights! May I be so bold as to recommend a bunch of books if you ever want to read more on them? :) The same story but more politically focused and considered the "Classic" is "Nicholas and Alexandra" by R.K.Massie. The Last Grand Duchess by Ian Vorress is an excellent testament to the private lives of the family (and not just Nicholas and Alexandra) from the point of view of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna. A Lifelong Passion is excellent because it is the story told ONLY through the diaries and letters from the family, relatives and a bunch of observers who were all "there". A great resource on Alexei and his haemophilia is "Alexei: Russia´s Last Imperial Heir" by Margarita Nelipa. it is rather scholarly and very detailed, not a light read. BUT my favourite Romanov book ever has to be "The Romanov Autumn" by Charlotte Zeepvat. It covers some of the most interesting people from the Romanov dynasty throughout the 19th century and up until the revolution, some of whom are rarely talked about. Zeepvat is a wonderful scholar with beautiful writing - and she actually drew the portraits of the Romanovs in the chapter headers herself. If you ever need ANYTHING Romanov related, just ask :D
Hello! I just wanted to say that I absolutely love your channel and I re-watch your videos countless times, you calm my anxiety and I learn so much from you, I wanted to thank you for existing and for your efforts here ❤️ I think it's really important to recognise/vocalise one's value! Kisses from Portugal
Really nice review -- I may have to check this out at some point, it sounds fascinating and I've been very interested in Russian history lately. For background on the time period in Russia, I read the massive A People's Tragedy by Orlando Figes last year and loved it and would highly recommend it (looks like someone else suggested it too), but I haven't really read anything else couldn't compare it to other options. Although, that book focuses more on the revolution itself, with only the first section really focused on the Romanovs. (For all I know though you may have read it already!)
I'm not an expert by any means, and I tend to read more about the Soviet Union than the Russian Empire, but Montefiore's book is horribly written, and doens't seem to be interested in history but just in salacious gossip.
Agree! I was hoping for a broad overview of the Romanovs and the political implications year by year (or ruler by ruler) and instead I read about peoples’ supposed penis size. Again and again. Just a real mish-mash of ideas that Montefiore never seemed to know where he was going with but seemed to land on sex scandal each and every time.
@@thebookbilby5049 Lol, I haven't read his book on the Romanovs, but I read Court of the Red Tsar and didn't find it that insightful ... it gave me a similar vibe overall. Maybe it just wasn't what I was personally looking for, a lot of people some to enjoy it. I guess at the very least, it's good to know what you're getting into when you start on such a long book.
I listened to your video yesterday right after you posted it, but didn't comment. The Romanov family has also fascinated me, maybe because for years, medias kept saying one survived .. and of course at college when I started to study Russian and Russian history. I have to say though, if I had wished their lives was saved, I never even thought about the lives of my own King and Queen, beheaded after the French Revolution .. It's weird, right ? I think because we knew that the peasants were at that time barely surviving, the taxes kept coming, wars were taking the lives of the young men. Anyway, I have heard about a few books that were all mentioned in the other comments (Rappaport and Montefiore). I read in French so there's also the book written by the French historian Hélène Carrière d'Encausses but it's about the Romanov from 1613 until 1917. But you definitely got me hooked again on that subject ! I have bought Montefiore's book years ago, but I know now it's not the best one.
I love the almost poetic irony that the prized royal blood was diseased. The big Simon Seabag Montefiore is good (I love the origin of the Romanov family and how they found their wives through basically a medieval reality competition like The Bachelor), but I highly recommend Robert K Massie. He has a great one on Nicholas and Alexandra, but his Catherine the Great biography is a favorite. Tangentially, I also recommend the Anne Edwards biography about Mary of Teck. Its premise is how she helped keep the British royal family intact when a lot of the royal families in Europe (her cousins) were being toppled around WWI, but also how by saving the royal family she helped create the dysfunction that we see even today. That time in history is so weirdly operatic.
I grew up adoring the Anastasia cartoon, but my interest into the family started in high school during my forensic science class. We were discussing the various women who stepped forward claiming to be Anastasia as apart of our DNA unit. The book that I read during that time was A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas and Alexandra: Their Own Story by Sergei Mironenko. The book is comprised of the letters and I believe some diary entries as well. It’s been a decade or so since I’ve read it, but it has stuck with me.
I've been obsessed with the family of Nicholas II since childhood, and was published twice by the Imperial Russian Journal (now defunct) in the '90s. I suggest skipping the Montefiore book - it's a fun read, but anecdotal and like a very long Daily Mail article. Like the others, I recommend Massie. Also, A Lifelong Passion and The Fate of the Romanovs, and one of the many photo compilations, such as Nicholas and Alexandra: The Family Albums. Love your channel! We have similar tastes in literature, so I look forward to your reviews.
This sounds super interesting I need to buy it. I loved Robert K Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra, especially his coverage of hemophilia as his child also had it so he was very empathetic. Somehow I never knew Anastasia was about the Romanovs.
Aaaah. The Romanovs. The subject of my research for the past 15 years. The subject of three of my graduation works :D Helen Rappaport is not the MOST reliable author out there, but this book was a good one for sure (though she kind of dismisses Maria Nikolaevna as much as everybody else - something I cannot condone). Also, from this book, you have a feeling the girls lived in a convent. They did not. They actually had very active social lives, just not with people who were considered high society. I recommend at least leaf through their diaries and correspondence (edited and published in the past few years by Helen Azar) so you can see they were really not "sheltered" from people. Just the circle of their company was different from what was "normal" for their station. Rappaport, much like Greg King, likes to embellish and from time to time becomes too sensational.
Yep, the babies were HUGE :D Anastasia was the largest I believe - though she later was the shortest among them. I blame Romanov genes for this - petite Nicholas was an exception (got it from his own mother).
I loved listening to all of your impressions and insights!
May I be so bold as to recommend a bunch of books if you ever want to read more on them? :) The same story but more politically focused and considered the "Classic" is "Nicholas and Alexandra" by R.K.Massie.
The Last Grand Duchess by Ian Vorress is an excellent testament to the private lives of the family (and not just Nicholas and Alexandra) from the point of view of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna.
A Lifelong Passion is excellent because it is the story told ONLY through the diaries and letters from the family, relatives and a bunch of observers who were all "there".
A great resource on Alexei and his haemophilia is "Alexei: Russia´s Last Imperial Heir" by Margarita Nelipa. it is rather scholarly and very detailed, not a light read.
BUT my favourite Romanov book ever has to be "The Romanov Autumn" by Charlotte Zeepvat. It covers some of the most interesting people from the Romanov dynasty throughout the 19th century and up until the revolution, some of whom are rarely talked about. Zeepvat is a wonderful scholar with beautiful writing - and she actually drew the portraits of the Romanovs in the chapter headers herself.
If you ever need ANYTHING Romanov related, just ask :D
I'm just still soooo happy to have your beutiful face and your beautiful brian back
Hello! I just wanted to say that I absolutely love your channel and I re-watch your videos countless times, you calm my anxiety and I learn so much from you, I wanted to thank you for existing and for your efforts here ❤️ I think it's really important to recognise/vocalise one's value! Kisses from Portugal
Really nice review -- I may have to check this out at some point, it sounds fascinating and I've been very interested in Russian history lately.
For background on the time period in Russia, I read the massive A People's Tragedy by Orlando Figes last year and loved it and would highly recommend it (looks like someone else suggested it too), but I haven't really read anything else couldn't compare it to other options. Although, that book focuses more on the revolution itself, with only the first section really focused on the Romanovs. (For all I know though you may have read it already!)
You always get me in the mood to read!! Just had to let you know :) love love your channel and your thoughts!!!
I listened to this a few years ago and really enjoyed it! I've wanted to explore more Russian history since.
I love the look on your face when describing the size of the babies at birth
I loved that book, I think it did an amazing job of painting a vivid picture of the four of them
I'm not an expert by any means, and I tend to read more about the Soviet Union than the Russian Empire, but Montefiore's book is horribly written, and doens't seem to be interested in history but just in salacious gossip.
Agree! I was hoping for a broad overview of the Romanovs and the political implications year by year (or ruler by ruler) and instead I read about peoples’ supposed penis size. Again and again. Just a real mish-mash of ideas that Montefiore never seemed to know where he was going with but seemed to land on sex scandal each and every time.
@@thebookbilby5049 Lol, I haven't read his book on the Romanovs, but I read Court of the Red Tsar and didn't find it that insightful ... it gave me a similar vibe overall. Maybe it just wasn't what I was personally looking for, a lot of people some to enjoy it. I guess at the very least, it's good to know what you're getting into when you start on such a long book.
I listened to your video yesterday right after you posted it, but didn't comment. The Romanov family has also fascinated me, maybe because for years, medias kept saying one survived .. and of course at college when I started to study Russian and Russian history. I have to say though, if I had wished their lives was saved, I never even thought about the lives of my own King and Queen, beheaded after the French Revolution .. It's weird, right ? I think because we knew that the peasants were at that time barely surviving, the taxes kept coming, wars were taking the lives of the young men. Anyway, I have heard about a few books that were all mentioned in the other comments (Rappaport and Montefiore). I read in French so there's also the book written by the French historian Hélène Carrière d'Encausses but it's about the Romanov from 1613 until 1917. But you definitely got me hooked again on that subject ! I have bought Montefiore's book years ago, but I know now it's not the best one.
I love the almost poetic irony that the prized royal blood was diseased. The big Simon Seabag Montefiore is good (I love the origin of the Romanov family and how they found their wives through basically a medieval reality competition like The Bachelor), but I highly recommend Robert K Massie. He has a great one on Nicholas and Alexandra, but his Catherine the Great biography is a favorite. Tangentially, I also recommend the Anne Edwards biography about Mary of Teck. Its premise is how she helped keep the British royal family intact when a lot of the royal families in Europe (her cousins) were being toppled around WWI, but also how by saving the royal family she helped create the dysfunction that we see even today. That time in history is so weirdly operatic.
I grew up adoring the Anastasia cartoon, but my interest into the family started in high school during my forensic science class. We were discussing the various women who stepped forward claiming to be Anastasia as apart of our DNA unit. The book that I read during that time was A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas and Alexandra: Their Own Story by Sergei Mironenko. The book is comprised of the letters and I believe some diary entries as well. It’s been a decade or so since I’ve read it, but it has stuck with me.
I've been obsessed with the family of Nicholas II since childhood, and was published twice by the Imperial Russian Journal (now defunct) in the '90s. I suggest skipping the Montefiore book - it's a fun read, but anecdotal and like a very long Daily Mail article. Like the others, I recommend Massie. Also, A Lifelong Passion and The Fate of the Romanovs, and one of the many photo compilations, such as Nicholas and Alexandra: The Family Albums.
Love your channel! We have similar tastes in literature, so I look forward to your reviews.
This sounds super interesting I need to buy it. I loved Robert K Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra, especially his coverage of hemophilia as his child also had it so he was very empathetic. Somehow I never knew Anastasia
was about the Romanovs.
Sounds like a great read. I loved that movie as a kid.
Hey