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The Last Days of the Romanovs Tragedy at Ekaterinburg Helen Rappaport Books

Download As PDF : The Last Days of the Romanovs Tragedy at Ekaterinburg Helen Rappaport Books

The Last Days of the Romanovs Tragedy at Ekaterinburg Helen Rappaport Books

As someone with no previous knowledge of the Romanovs or the Tsar Nicholas II, I bought this as a first basic introduction. I wanted something easily readable and interesting, and this book did not disappoint.
The writing is good and holds your interest. The author clearly knows her stuff and pieces her full stock of anecdotes, research and knowledge into a tantalising narrative. Under her pen, the final humdrum 14 days of the Romanovs in captivity are converted into a tense account, with elements of a thriller. She maintains this doom-laden strength even while making tangential forays into the wider world of 1918: the chaos of the Russian revolution, the politics and players of the western world, relations between European nations, the concerns of the day.

Rappaport has a knack for bringing figures of the past back to life. We are given intimate and personal portraits of Alexandra, Nicholas and their daughters, as well as the humanity, honour and dedication of some of the ordinary people surrounding the family- the dear Dr Botkin; the servants, even one or two of the guards. There are also a few pages of photographs. The author also lightly garnishes the well-known facts with her own angle and conclusions, which nicely smoothes the overall effect, although the lack of footnotes or endnotes somewhat undermines its credibility as historic documentary.


Tags : Amazon.com: The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg (9780312379766): Helen Rappaport: Books,Helen Rappaport,The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg,St. Martin's Press,0312379765,Revolutionary,Emperors;Russia;Biography.,Russia;History;Nicholas II, 1894-1917.,1868-1918,Assassination,Biography,Emperor of Russia,,Emperors,Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union,Family,GENERAL,General Adult,HISTORY General,HISTORY Revolutionary,HISTORY Russia & the Former Soviet Union,Historical - General,History,History - General History,History Europe Russia & The Former Soviet Union,HistoryWorld,History: World,II,,MONARCHY AND ARISTOCRACY,Nicholas,Non-Fiction,REVOLUTIONS,RUSSIA - HISTORY - 1917 TO 1991,Royalty,Russia,United States,Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union,HISTORY General,HISTORY Revolutionary,HISTORY Russia & the Former Soviet Union,Historical - General,History Europe Russia & The Former Soviet Union,Royalty,History - General History,1868-1918,Assassination,Biography,Emperor of Russia,,Emperors,Family,II,,Nicholas,Russia,Revolutions,Russia - History - 1917 To 1991,History,History: World

The Last Days of the Romanovs Tragedy at Ekaterinburg Helen Rappaport Books Reviews

This book goes into the final days of the Romanovs after they had been moved to Ekaterinburg. The author really did a great job of research and made it one of the more interesting books on the subject. While reading the book I kept hoping for a different outcome although I knew what was coming but the description of the actual massacre was heartrending.

Rappaport does not go into great detail about Rasputin, just the necessary parts to the story and I appreciated not going over details that I've read by others. Also what happened to the assassins afterwards and putting the finishing touches on the story.

Very well done, but gut wrenching book.
This was a well researched and well written book. I truly enjoyed all of it and was sorry when it ended. I have read a lot of books about Tsar Nicholas and his Family but this was one of the best. I suggest that anyone curius about what really happened to the last Tsar read this book.
After reading The Romanov Sisters I wanted to know more about the family as a whole. This book is so detailed, I can’t fathom the research that went into writing it! It is a little mind boggling at times with all the different names and the revolutionary groups. The book is very informative and I am satisfied that I have learned so much about the Romanov family. Theirs is a tragic story who’s ending was so senseless.
Very long - difficult to get into. However, there are some moments when it seems to get more interesting, only to fall back into repetitive sludge all over again. It is bothersome that there are no footnotes, as others have mentioned. I would find myself reading and wonder how the author "knew" certain things that are presented as fact - when I think a lot of it is conjecture. The author is close to her subject and impassioned by it, however no one really comes across as likeable, and I have to wonder why to any or all of it. Why would anyone want to rescue the Romanovs - or why would they want to annihilate them (other than for the fact that the Russian people were desperately poor and the Romanovs were completely out of touch)? There are a lot of clichés used, which may 'sound' good, but ultimately prove distracting. I didn't realize that the book was supposed to account for the last 14 days of their lives. If that is indeed the case, it jumps back and forth far too much.
This was a fast paced, fact filled read that makes you feel that you're in the "House of Special Purpose" in Ekaterinburg. What happened to the Romanov family reads like a classic Greek tragedy; if only the Whites had arrived sooner, if only Lenin, Trotsky and Sverdlov weren't bent on revenge and murder, if only, if only, etc. The communists for 70 years called this despicable action an execution; an execution is a lawful punishment carried out as a sentence after a trial and guilty verdict. When and where was Nicholas' trial? And what sort of monsters shoot helpless, innocent women and children? This book is an historically accurate indictment of the Bolshevik killers.
This is the best book I've yet to read on the Romanovs (Nicholas II, Alexandra and their five children). For the first time, I was able to read in detail about their imprisonment and deaths. The book covers the last 14 days of their lives. It shares a lot of things about the Romanovs I never heard before. It explains the political air of Russia in that time. And it gives a gripping telling of their murders. It's the first time in a long time that a book made me feel fairly strong emotions (in this case, sadness of how the family was treated and their deaths). I had heard the author, Helen Rappaport, speak and had to buy this book. She researched in Russia - can speak some Russian (hey, anything more than "Nyet" impresses me greatly) - and writes so that it is hard to put the book down. I was most interested in the personal lives of the Romanovs, and she told quite a number of new-to-me pieces. I had known that Nicholas had bad teeth. But I did not know he suffered from pretty bad halitosis. If that's ever a "Jeopardy" question, I will know it! Or that Maria got caught having sex with a guard who snuck her in a birthday cake. I admire the author for her research talents and for her excellent writing. Thank you, Ms. Rappaport, for a wonderful book.
As someone with no previous knowledge of the Romanovs or the Tsar Nicholas II, I bought this as a first basic introduction. I wanted something easily readable and interesting, and this book did not disappoint.
The writing is good and holds your interest. The author clearly knows her stuff and pieces her full stock of anecdotes, research and knowledge into a tantalising narrative. Under her pen, the final humdrum 14 days of the Romanovs in captivity are converted into a tense account, with elements of a thriller. She maintains this doom-laden strength even while making tangential forays into the wider world of 1918 the chaos of the Russian revolution, the politics and players of the western world, relations between European nations, the concerns of the day.

Rappaport has a knack for bringing figures of the past back to life. We are given intimate and personal portraits of Alexandra, Nicholas and their daughters, as well as the humanity, honour and dedication of some of the ordinary people surrounding the family- the dear Dr Botkin; the servants, even one or two of the guards. There are also a few pages of photographs. The author also lightly garnishes the well-known facts with her own angle and conclusions, which nicely smoothes the overall effect, although the lack of footnotes or endnotes somewhat undermines its credibility as historic documentary.