The last days of the Romanovs : tragedy at Ekaterinburg

Rappaport, an expert in the field of Russian history, brings you the riveting day-by-day account of the last fourteen days of the Russian Imperial family, in this first of two books about the Romanovs. Her second book The Romanov Sisters, offering a never-before-seen glimpse at the lives of the Tsar's beautiful daughters and a celebration of their unique stories, will be published in 2014. The brutal murder of the Russian Imperial family on the night of July 16–17, 1918 has long been a defining moment in world history. The Last Days of the Romanovs reveals in exceptional detail how the conspiracy to kill them unfolded. In the vivid style of a TV documentary, Helen Rappaport reveals both the atmosphere inside the family's claustrophobic prison and the political maneuverings of those who wished to save—or destroy—them. With the watching world and European monarchies proving incapable of saving the Romanovs, the narrative brings this tragic story to life in a compellingly new and dramatic way, culminating in a bloody night of horror in a cramped basement room.

on The Sweltering Summer Night Of July 16, 1918, In The Siberian City Of Ekaterinburg, A Group Of Assassins Led An Unsuspecting Tsar Nicholas Ii Of Russia, His Wife, The Tsarina Alexandra, The Desperately Ill Tsarevich, And Their Four Beautiful Daughters, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, And Anastasia, Into A Basement Room Where They Were Shot And Then Bayoneted To Death.

this Is The Story Of Those Murders, Which Ended Three Hundred Years Of Romanov Rule And Set Their Stamp On An Era Of State-orchestrated Terror And Brutal Repression.

the Last Days Of The Romanovs Counts Down To The Last, Tense Hours Of The Family’s Lives, Stripping Away The Over-romanticized Versions Of Previous Accounts. The Story Focuses On The Family Inside The Ipatiev House, Capturing The Oppressive Atmosphere And The Dynamics Of A Group—the Romanovs, Their Servants, And Guards—thrown Together By Extraordinary Events.

marshaling Overlooked Evidence From Key Witnesses Such As The British Consul To Ekaterinburg, Sir Thomas Preston, American And British Travelers In Siberia, And The Now-forgotten American Journalist Herman Bernstein, Helen Rappaport Gives A Brilliant Account Of The Political Forces Swirling Through The Remote Urals Town. She Conveys The Tension Of The Watching World: The Kaiser Of Germany And George V, King Of England—both, Like Alexandra, Grandchildren Of Queen Victoria—their Nations Locked In Combat As The First World War Drew To Its Bitter End. And She Draws On Recent Releases From The Russian Archives To Challenge The View That The Deaths Were A Unilateral Act By A Maverick Group Of The Ekaterinburg Bolsheviks, Identifying A Chain Of Command That Stretches Directly, She Believes, To Moscow—and To Lenin Himself.

telling The Story In A Compellingly New And Dramatic Way, the Last Days Of The Romanovs Brings Those Final Tragic Days Vividly Alive Against The Backdrop Of Russia In Turmoil, On The Brink Of A Devastating Civil War.

publishers Weekly

synthesizing A Variety Of Sources, British Historian Rappaport (joseph Stalin) Details The Romanovs' Last Two Weeks, Imprisoned In A Cramped Private House In Ekaterinburg, A Violently Anti-czarist Industrial City In The Ural Mountains Where Nicholas Ii; His Wife, Alexandra; And Their Five Children Were Executed On July 17, 1918. The Czar's Rescue Was A Low Priority For The Allies, And Several Escape Plots By Russian Monarchists Came To Naught. A Lax Guard Was Replaced By A Rigorous New Regime On July 4, Headed By Yakov Yurovsky, Whose Family's Impoverished Siberian Exile Had Fueled His Burning Hatred For The Imperial Family, And His Ruthless Assistant And Surrogate Son, Grigory Nikulin. How The Last Czar And His Family Died Was One Of Russia's Best-kept Secrets For Decades, And Rappaport Spares None Of The Gory Details Of The Panicked Bloodbath (it Took An Entire Clip Of Bullets To Finish Off The Czarevitch Because An Undergarment Sewn With Jewels Protected The Boy's Torso) And Botched Burial Of The Corpses. Although Parts Of The Romanov Saga Are Familiar And Rappaport's Sympathy For The Czar Often Seems Naïve, This Is An Absorbing, Lucid And Authoritative Work. 16 Pages Of Photos. (feb. 3)

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Acknowledgements List of Illustrations INTRODUCTION: The Red Urals 1 Behind the Palisade 2 ‘The Dark Gentleman’ 3 The Man with a Cigarette 4 The Woman in a Wheelchair 5 Girls in White Dresses 6 The Boy in the Sailor Suit 7 The Good Doctor 8 ‘Our Poor Russia’ 9 ‘Everything Is the Same’ 10 ‘What Is To Be Done with Nicholas?’ 11 ‘Absolutely No News from Outside’ 12 ‘Something Has Happened to Them in There’ 13 ‘Ordinary People Like Us’ 14 The House of Special Purpose 15 ‘The Will of the Revolution’ 16 ‘The World Will Never Know What We Did to Them’ EPILOGUE: The Scent of Lilies Note on Sources Bibliography Index A brilliant account of the political forces swirling through the remote Urals town of Ekaterinburg at the bitter end of the First World War. Challenges the view that the deaths of the Romanovs were a unilateral act by a maverick group of Bolsheviks, and identifies a chain of command that stretches to Moscow-- and to Lenin himself A moment-by-moment account of the last thirteen days of the Russian Imperial family's lives examines their imprisonment, the political maneuverings of those out to save or destroy them, and their brutal assassinations.