Originally written: 14/01/20.
It’s one of those books interspersed with sections of photos, and knowing ultimately how the book was going to end I dreaded coming to those final photos and finding photos of the final Romonovs’ resting places, or worse, put in to satisfy the morbid curiosity of certain readers. My relief was great when I did get to the end and realise that while there were many featured photos of Nicolas II’s family, all were tastefully chosen and depicting them during… happier times might be a stretch, but less grief-stricken ones, at least. (The final Tsar’s rule was a shitshow from start to end.)
I particularly love the way Montefiore book-ended the family’s history with Tsar Michael I and little Tsarevich Alexi; both ill and fragile, but while one of them would begin an empire, the other would witness its’ demise, in the most horrifying, brutal manner possible.
In 1998, on the eightieth anniversary of those disgusting murders out in the Urals, President Boris Yeltsin declared that the fates which befell the Romanov family all those years ago was one of the most egregious stains on the page of Russia’s history book, and indeed it felt that way. While I have been aware for some years now of the vague details on what happened to Nicholas II (referred to as Nicky here) and family, having to read about their deaths in step-by-step detail was absolutely stomach-churning.
This is despite all of the things about them personally that I also found repulsive, their anti-Semitism, for one. To meet such an end, especially for the children, hardly bears thinking about.
But, I digress.
The book is a heavy one, both literally and figuratively. (I found it easiest to read when propped up against something so that my wrists didn’t need to bear its weight.) With so many Tsars and Tsarinas covered, I honestly don’t know quite where to begin. The history is so thorough that my mind boggles just trying to get my thoughts in order. I will say that if you aren’t generally a fan of non-fiction, this may over face you, though if you’re shopping around in the market for a book to read that will tide you over until GRRM decides to release The Winds Of Winter, there’s no better a book to go for than this.
Some of the stuff I read about in this book is real shit. Westeros only wishes. (But I honestly could have lived my entire life without knowing about Rasputin’s penis size.) As if we needed the confirmation that royals in centuries prior were hedonistic sex maniacs, The Romanovs removes all doubt. (As it does any credibility that the modern era is hyper-sexualised in comparison. These guys liked to party.)
Divided into three Acts; The Rise, The Apogee, The Decline, despite the great scope of the book and it’s endless cast of “characters”, the three hundred year tale of the Romonov family I found surprisingly easy to follow along with. Most of the time I knew who everyone being talked about was, even with repeating names, and the aforementioned three act structure is a big help.
Overall, this book is going on my shelf permanently. History has always been one of my favourite hobbies, and I’m quite excited to see that my personal library has an expanding collection (though I will be forever mad that the book on Marie Antoinette I hesitated on at a charity shop had sold by the time I went back for it).
The Tea Room 