The Last Empress: The Life and Times of Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsarina of RussiaThis is the compelling story of the woman credited as a major factor in the destruction of the Russian Empire. It is the first full-scale biography of Alexandra in thirty years, and the first to fully explore her childhood motivations and influences. Just six years of age when her mother died, Alexandra, a princess of Hesse-Darmstadt, a German principality, was reared under the tutelage of various aunts but always remained under the watchful if faraway eye of her grandmother, Queen Victoria. As a shy, unsophisticated teenager, "Alix" visited St. Petersburg, Russia, for a six-week holiday and caught the eye of Nicholas, the young heir to the Russian throne. Nicholas and Alexandra fell in love. They might have lived ever after as a happily married bourgeois couple, but the fates soon placed them on the throne and they were on a collision course with tragedy. A vast cast of supporting players is brought to vivid life in The Last Empress. Sometime overlooked personalities like the Grand Duchess Militza, who introduced Alexandra to Rasputin; Anna Vyrubova, who cemented their friendship; the tsar's uncle, Grand Duke Nicholas, who had almost as little use for the empress as he had for Rasputin (whom he threatened to hang); and a host of military and political figures who either helped fuel the revolutionary flames or stood by helplessly while an era and a way of life vanished. More than just the story of one fated princess, the book carries the saga of the Romanovs to the present day, when recent excavations at the town of Ekaterinburg, where the royal family was murdered, have unearthed their remains. Today the Romanovs have regained a vestige of popularity in Russia and a major exhibit ofphotographs and artifacts drew capacity crowds in Moscow and will probably do the same in other cities it will tour. Based on hundreds of letters (many hitherto unpublished), diaries, and documents, as well as the author's own research in Russia, Germany, England, and America, The Last Empress presents an insightful yet unbiased account of this important woman's life, including her dominant political role and her dependence on the infamous Rasputin. The rare photographs were assembled from international archives. |
From inside the book
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Page 221
... soldiers fired their stocks , they had to wait for re- supply while being bombarded with Germany artillery . Each Russian soldier traveled an average of eight hundred miles to the front , com- pared to two hundred miles for a German soldier ...
... soldiers fired their stocks , they had to wait for re- supply while being bombarded with Germany artillery . Each Russian soldier traveled an average of eight hundred miles to the front , com- pared to two hundred miles for a German soldier ...
Page 223
... soldiers should be armed with axes ; 22 at another , he deemed it necessary for the tsar to issue an edict rationing Russian soldiers to only three shots a day.23 Soldiers waiting in the trenches for guns to be brought to them were ...
... soldiers should be armed with axes ; 22 at another , he deemed it necessary for the tsar to issue an edict rationing Russian soldiers to only three shots a day.23 Soldiers waiting in the trenches for guns to be brought to them were ...
Page 292
... soldiers decided that they would drive out to Tsarskoe Selo from the capital , storm the Alexander Palace , and take the tsarina and tsarevich back to the Fortress of Peter and Paul . When the men arrived in the village , they set off ...
... soldiers decided that they would drive out to Tsarskoe Selo from the capital , storm the Alexander Palace , and take the tsarina and tsarevich back to the Fortress of Peter and Paul . When the men arrived in the village , they set off ...
Common terms and phrases
Alexander Palace Alexandra and Nicholas Alexei Alicky Alix Alix's Anastasia Anna Vyrubova asked began believed Bolsheviks brother Buxhoeveden capital Catherine Palace church court cousin Darmstadt daughter death dowager empress dress Duma Eddy Ekaterinburg Emperor Ernie eyes father Felix fell George German Gilliard girls Grand Duchess Grand Duke guards Hesse Hessian husband Ibid imperial family Ipatiev house Kerensky King Kokovstsov later Lenin letter lived Ludwig Marie Feodorovna Marie Pavlovna marriage married minister morning Moscow Mossolov mother murder never Nicholas and Alexandra night officer Olga Paléologue peasant Petersburg Pierre Gilliard Prince Princess Alice Purishkevich Queen Victoria Rasputin Rodzianko Romanovs royal Russian sent Serge shot sister soldiers Soviet stood streets Tatiana throne Tobolsk told took train tsar and tsarina tsar's tsarevich tsarina Tsarskoe Selo turned Ural Ural Regional waited walked wedding wife Winter Palace Yakovlev Youssoupov Yurovsky