Reviews with content warning for Animal death - The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia

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The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming

4 reviews

goodthingsread's review

dark informative sad tense medium-paced

4.0

I really enjoyed this book for its clarity and focus. The last few historical non-fiction books I've read have been a strange mix of fact and fanfiction, sparingly quoting primary sources and filling in unknown patches with hypotheses. It feels sometimes like non-fiction books, especially historical reviews, are pushed to be new and innovative, possessing some ground-breaking viewpoint of the past. Sometimes I just want to learn the basics. Fleming does that. She uses her primary sources appropriately. She paints a clear picture of the times and places and certain scenes without unnecessary hypotheticals. The motivations and mindsets of all the persons involved are plainly explained (where they can be -- and she points out just as plainly where she is making a guess, rather than trying to bolster her theory by twisting facts into a certain angle).

I just really appreciate being able to read a book that actually gives me facts in a readable, enjoyable format. I like.

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claireelyse06's review

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challenging dark emotional informative sad fast-paced

4.5

This book is incredible for people who are interested in learning about the Romanov family who don't have any prior knowledge. It's accessible and easy to read but also captivating at the same time. The author takes a very humanistic approach to the controversial reign of Nicholas, which I appreciated. It paints him and his family as human rather than as angelic martyrs or evil. I think that's something a lot of people tend to not think about when they think about controversial political figures such as Nicholas (though to be fair, the raging antisemitism and brutality Nicholas exerted on his people are not very excusable).

Going a little bit more in depth about what I liked about this book, it starts off with an explanation of Russian names and the different calendar used in imperial Russia at the time (the author conveniently sticks to using the calendar that we use today while in this introductory page telling you how to calculate the date difference if you so wish). She also includes a map of the Russian empire at the time so you can get an idea of what you're dealing with.

The language was to the point. Often when I read historical books, I can get lost in the names or plot, but not with this book. And at the same time the writing was not juvenile and in my opinion was good for all ages.

The biggest thing that I loved about this book was the way it incorporated the perspectives of people who were not part of the monarchy/upper crust. Throughout there are primary sources in sections called Beyond The Palace Gates that illustrate the differences in royal life versus peasant life. Also regarding the format of the book, I personally liked how each chapter was divided into sections almost like it was a textbook. Honestly, I would say this kind of falls under the category of a textbook between those primary source sections and the division of the book. But don't let that scare you. The book is not very long but packs a lot of information into it.

The author does a great job of illustrating the legitimate problems that the people of the Russian empire were facing on a social, political, and economic level and also gives some background as to why the Romanov dynasty failed without excusing any of it.

Spoiler alert maybe? (IDK it's history, so maybe not) the execution really pulled at my heartstrings. Nicholas and Alexandra were by no means good rulers, but the way in which they were executed (AS WELL AS THEIR CHILDREN AND FAITHFUL SERVANTS AND A DOG) was absolutely appalling. At the bare minimum the daughters and servants should have been allowed to live (you need to realize that the girls didn't die right away and had to watch their parents die first, it's all incredibly horrifying).

While I did have some knowledge about the Romanov family and have a particular interest in the girls, I wasn't much aware of the political and social situation in Russia and didn't really understand why the people were so upset with the ruler, and I am forever grateful to this book for illustrating that.

I also appreciated the in depth list of sources at the back of the book that are laid out for us to use (I will definitely be checking out some of them as well as some of the primary sources used throughout the book).

All in all, I would say the rule of Nicholas, the last Tsar, was a complete and utter crap show on so many levels. There were so many times when I wanted to smack various characters silly (especially regarding the sheer ignorance of the upper class).

My only issue with the book while I was reading it was there wasn't a mention of the Russo-Japanese War, which I feel like should have been at least included in a paragraph? Or maybe I'm just dumb and it wasn't as important as I originally thought (doubtful). This isn't a huge deal though, as this is a basic book about the Romanovs (though I emphasize a treasure trove for anyone who doesn't have any prior knowledge about the Romanovs or reading nonfiction history books). Oh, and the author mentions Nicholas chain smoking about ten times, which kind of became a little bit of a cliche, but again, not a huge deal.

Summed up, I highly recommend, particularly if you don't know anything about the Romanovs. This is a brilliant place to start, and if the book gets you interested in the Romanovs, it provides you with great resources to expand your research.

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dwdillydally's review

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emotional informative sad medium-paced

3.5

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librarymouse's review

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informative reflective

3.75

This is an interesting look into the lives of the last imperial family of Russia. The last time I learned something specifically about them was in 11th grade history class, so I'm glad that I found this book. The way that they are described using excerpts from diaries and letters makes them oscillate really hard between being people that you can empathize with, and them being just horrible, out of touch royalty at a time when their people were starving and dying by the hundreds and thousands. To know how infantilized the future czar and the grand duchesses were, and how isolated their upbringing was is really interesting. They were children and when left without their titles especially near the last few months of their lives they befriended other children/their guards, played and cleaned. The family is disgustingly antisemitic, the description of such beliefs being what first left a bad taste in my mouth on the topic of the family. The issues leading up to them blaming Jews for a revolt that did not involve very many Jewish people to begin with could be explained as some thing Czar Nicholas couldn't be blamed for because father didn't train him for the role he then took on. The object hatred of a cultural religious group really grinds my gears. I know historically it was even more acceptable to be so hateful than it is today, but the knowledge of just how antisemitic the imperial family was was shocking. The family being killed at the whim of their jailer and against the initial orders of Lenin was an intentional act done to harm the those in support of the Czar and the white army. We were people being used as pawns after they've been knocked from their pedestal. They'd already been humbled and their deaths weren't necessary. If Nicholas had never become Czar, and was instead allowed to live out his life as a member of the nobility with minimal responsibility, Russia may have continued to be run as an oligarchy with an imperial family to this day. It's easy to look back and see all of the little things that could have been changed that would have had a resounding impact across history.

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