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Ekaterinburg: The Last Days of the Romanovs

Author: Helen Rappaport
Publisher: Hutchinson
Category: Book

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Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars

9 reviews
Sales Rank: 3443

Media: Hardcover
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6 x 1.2

ISBN: 0091921155
EAN: 9780091921156
ASIN: 0091921155

Publication Date: June 5, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 6-9 of 9

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The lilies in the forest. June 23, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Most readers of Helen Rappaport's gripping account of the last weeks of the lives of the Russian Imperial family will already know what happened. The great strength of this work is in the fleshing out of the characters from the first-hand accounts that Helen Rappaport has sourced, especially the Herman Bernstein archive in America. The Grand Duchesses especially become real girls with their different habits and characteristics well delineated. It is almost unbearable to read, but more unbearable not to, as the tick-tock of the narrative bears us inexorably closer to July 17th, the date of their brutal assassination.

5 out of 5 stars

Fresh perspective, at last June 22, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

I took a risk with this book -- rather than wait months for the American edition, I pre-ordered it sight unseen and coughed up an extra 30% in shipping to the USA.

Short version: thumbs up. Had it read in an afternoon.

Long version: Rappaport's even-handed perspective and tight focus make Ekaterinburg a worthwhile read, even for those like me with linear feet of shelf space already devoted to dozens of Romanov titles. Rappaport's approach neither sanctifies nor demonizes the imperial family, and that in itself is refreshing. Drawing on seldom-accessed Russian sources, she gives a vivid sense of the tense political climate in Ekaterinburg, as well as the stifling mood in the Ipatiev house during the Romanovs' captivity that's lacking in other accounts. A significant amount of discussion concerns the politics behind the execution, but as I have not generally paid much attention to the Lenin vs. Ural Soviet debate, I can't judge whether the information on that topic is new.

To be perfectly frank, this volume is not a smorgasboard of new facts and evidence; it's too late in the game to realistically expect that from any author. Yet the tight chronological focus filled in some cracks that other accounts tend to gloss over, and I found a satisfying number of new tidbits regarding the Romanovs themselves -- the name of Aleksei's cat, for example, and further insight into the empress's physical/mental condition -- to feast upon.

For my money, the combination of new domestic tidbits and the author's assessment of the Romanovs' personalities and family dynamic more than made up for the cost of international postage. Those more interested in the political side of the Romanovs' exile and execution should find plenty to ponder as well. In essence, I'm glad I didn't wait.

5 out of 5 stars

Russian tragedy June 22, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

The fate of the Romanovs is well known. Many books have been written about the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II & his family - Tsaritsa Alexandra, Tsarevich Alexey & the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria & Anastasia - many of them full of wild speculation that some of the family survived the murders in 1918. Helen Rappaport's new book focuses on the last two weeks of their lives, imprisoned in the Ipatiev House (known to their Bolshevik captors as the House of Special Purpose) in Ekaterinburg, a small town in the Urals. The book is based on extensive research among Russian sources not generally accessible to Western researchers & this is its great strength. Rappaport alternates between taking the reader inside the claustrophobic atmosphere of the Ipatiev House, as the family's horizons are narrowed to the few rooms on the first floor, circling back through time to fill in background detail on the inept rule of the Tsar which led to the upheaval of revolution, & moving to Moscow, Petrograd & London as political forces influence the family's fate. The final chapters are harrowing with the description of the family's murder & the almost farcical ineptitude of the executioners. A compulsively readable book for anyone interested in the Romanovs or Russia in the 20th century.

5 out of 5 stars

The author June 8, 2008
1 out of 7 found this review helpful

I haven't yet read this book so this is probably an inappropriate comment, and am so looking forward to doing so after having heard the author speaking on Radio 4. There is such a 'clique' of would-be Romanov authors nowadays who spout the old 'party line' without depth. Ms. Rappaport was clearly above that kind of nonsense, and her observations about the love the Russian people have for the Romanovs, and the outcome of their murder, were so fascinating. Thank you for speaking the truth!! I am really looking forward to reading and reviewing this book.