A historical read at it's best!
Written: Jun 08 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good organization. Great detail. Exciting action.
Cons: A bit thick... ;)
The Bottom Line: It's a great read. Mind boggling - but not in a bad way! Lot's of excitement and disappointment as you go along with the story.
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| alseltzer's Full Review: Robert K. Massie - Nicholas and Alexandra: The Sto... |
This particular book is quite notable for it’s eloquent language and down to the point explanation of what exactly has happened. Unlike many other historical books where the writer oftentimes gets caught up in his own ego and tries to insert as many incomprehensible terms as possible that my head goes numb and I find myself grappling to understand just the language of the book – Massie is precise in his expressions and quick in his explanations.
Of course that does not answer for the content of the book – but it certainly makes it a lot easier to read. I am pretty sure that a lot of people out there tend to shy away from thick historical books – but I swear on my goat – this book reads like a novel. Trust me – I am generally not big on thick history books myself.
Now, for the content of it.
1. It’s thorough.
2. It’s got it’s facts straight.
3. It’s down to the point in each chapter.
4. It’s got shocks and surprises.
5. It depicts very clearly the struggles that went on in the Empire, including the oh-so-interesting power struggles between the characters and various entities.
A quick outline (no spoilers):
It starts with the end of Alexander the III’s reign and finishes with the all-too-well-known demise of the Romanov family.
Massie gives a good account of most influential players: The Tsar’s family – down to the sisters and babysitters, the infamous Rasputin who is quite frankly still is a mystery despite many historians and researchers trying to pry the lid off this specimen of god knows what. The various Tsar’s family relatives have been covered so you can see the clear relationships.
Massie gives a brief background to WWI and the course of it, mostly from the Russian viewpoint but he touches up on all countries and aspects of it, because it was what it was – a true world war.
The Russo-Japanese war of 1905 is covered fairly well. The good old but unprepared Russian navy losing sea battles and outmaneuvered Siberian companies giving way in Asia to hordes of Japanese. Overall- a disaster for the Russian Imperial state.
What did strike me:
- The amazing details regarding the daily lives of the Imperial Family down to what they ate and how they spend their vacations.
- Fairly good action scenes with assassinations, skirmishes and the like.
- Planning of the book is good – the events are interconnected as you read, there aren’t many blank spots where you have to ask yourself what has happened.
- The description of the poor hemophilic Alexis, I did learn a lot about hemophilia from this book.
- Clear explanations of diplomatic relationships between the European countries and Russia throughout the chaotic period.
What made me yawn:
- It is a thick book and I myself do not quite fancy certain passages about the political happenings, but that’s just me and at times politics bores me, even if it’s exciting, although I must say that Massie did achieve a fairly good balance of political intrigue and “action” so to speak.
Honestly – apart from that – the book is brilliant, one of the best works written on the subject. Great fun to read – for a historic book, great detail throughout, terrific portrayal of the main as well as secondary characters and of course – the wars, the conflicts, the Cossacks!
It all comes together to form a stormy ocean of a read, if you are of course interested in Russia and it’s magnificent history.
Enjoy!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
alseltzer
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Member: Alex
Location: Somewhere in Asia
Reviews written: 59
Trusted by: 12 members
About Me:
I'm absolutely in love with cheese, and thanks for reading my reviews! Kisses sunshines!
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