Alexandra: The Last Tsarina [Paperback]

Carolly Erickson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2002

Tsarina Alexandra-hauntingly beautiful, melancholy, obsessed with the occult-was blamed by her contemporaries for the downfall of the Romanovs. But her true nature has eluded previous biographers. Using archival material unavailable before the fall of the Soviet Union, acclaimed historian Carolly Erickson's masterful study brings to life the full dimensions of the Empress's singular psychology: her childhood bereavement, her long struggle to marry Nicholas, the anguish of her pathological shyness, and her increasing dependence on a series of occult mentors, the most notorious of whom was Rasputin. With meticulous care, Erickson has crafted an intimate and richly detailed portrait of an enigmatic historical figure. Unfolding against the turbulent backdrop of Russian history in the last decades before the Revolution of 1917, this engrossing biography draws the reader in to Alexandra's isolated, increasingly troubled interior world. In these pages, the tsarina ceases to be a remote historical figure and becomes a character who lives and breathes.

Intimate, rich in detail, carefully researched and informed by a generous imagination, Erickson's page-turning account of Alexandra and her times is a gem of biographical storytelling, as vivid and hard to put down as an enthralling novel.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The wife of Nicholas III, the tsar who was overthrown in 1917 by the Russian Revolution, Alexandra has long been viewed by Russian historians as narrow-minded, reactionary and hysterical. But in this entertaining, if not completely convincing, account, Erickson (Bloody Mary) paints a sympathetic portrait of the German-born empress. Erickson humanizes the granddaughter of Britain's Queen Victoria by detailing the romance between the two young cousins, "Alix" and "Nicky." One of the book's strengths is its emphasis on the private life of the court. Erickson also draws attention to the difficulties the husband and wife faced as they struggled to produce a male heir, first having four daughters before they sired the hemophiliac Alexis. "Unless help came from a divine source," Erickson writes, "he would surely succumb to one of the terrible attacks of bleeding." Though the rest of the story is familiar Alexis's illness led the family to an increasing fascination with the occult and the spiritual healer Rasputin this accomplished historical biographer tells it with style and suspense. At times, Erickson sacrifices historical accuracy for drama, e.g., when she attempts to elicit sympathy by saying that Alexandra looked middle-aged at 33, although that was not rare for a mother of four in pre-revolutionary Russia. But small glitches aside, Erickson's popular biography will satisfy readers seeking the scoop on Russia's last empress.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Erickson is the author of many popular historical biographies, only one of which (Great Catherine) dealt with Russia. When the German princess Alexandra of Hesse-Darmstadt (1872-1918) married the heir to the Russian throne in 1894, she assumed a role for which she was not suited, by temperament or by upbringing, as well as an obligation to support her clearly weaker husband. The author depicts her subject as rejected from the start by the Russian court and oblivious to the political situation in her adopted country, with a strong desire for a "normal," loving family life. As a result, Alexandra gradually withdrew into the mystic tradition of Russian Orthodoxy, and her illnesses isolated her ever further from the troubles abroad in Russia. The book quotes extensively from Alexandra's letters and from memoirs left by her friends and contemporaries. Though less expansive in its coverage of the era than Robert K. Massie's Nicolas and Alexandra (1967), this work makes a complex time accessible to general readers and is most suitable for public libraries.
- Marcia L. Sprules, Council on Foreign Relations Lib., New York
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031230238X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312302382
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #500,778 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carolly Erickson is the bestselling author of many distinguished works of nonfiction and a series of historical entertainments, blending fact and invention. She lives in Hawaii.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not A Lot Of New Material !, September 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Alexandra: The Last Tsarina (Hardcover)

First of all, this is the first book I have read that was written by Carolly Erickson, who was supposed to be a very good author. On this book however, I do not think she covered any new ground at all. Firstly, there are a lot of first hand sources ( biographies written by the Romanov and Greek familes that are not consulted and not included in the biography). There was also scant mention about Alexandra's relationship with her sisters Victoria and Irene. There are actually some letters still stored in archievs that could provide more information on this much written about woman, but they are not there. Even Ella, Alexandra's sister was not given enough page space even though she was very involved in her sister's life (they frequently travel to monestaies around Russia for pilgramages even after Ella became a nun). Another victim was the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna, who was described almost as a "mother-in-law from hell", and forever critizing her poor daughter-in-law. The truth is that Marie was quite a bossy, but also fair-minded, woman, and if it wasn't for Alexandra's intense shyness and sensitive nature, could have been a great ally to her daughter-in-law. Excellent biographies on the Dowager Empress like Coryne Hall's Little Mother of Russia, E E P Tisadll's "Dowager Empress" and most importantly Edward Bing's (ed) "The Secret Letters of The Tsar to Dowager Empress Marie" were not consulted. Without going through papers in Windsor, Broadlands and Russian Archievs, there will NOT be any surprises here. Most of the ground covered were already in Robert Massie's " Nicholas And Alexandra". The photos were also seen before in most books too. So to those like me already spent a fortune on collecting books on the Romanovs, it will not worth the effort to do so, but to those who want to start on it. It may be nice read in the park.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A good read for one casually interested in the Romanovs, January 8, 2002

By 

D. Todd Miller (Greensboro, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alexandra: The Last Tsarina (Hardcover)

I opened this book with anticipation: I have been in love with imperial Russia since childhood. I have read at least 50 books on the Romanov's Russia, and lectured on "Romanov psychology", but I found this work a bore. Ms. Erickson revealed nothing new and cited (mostly) secondary and tertiary sources. I felt as though I was reading a Danielle Steele novel at times (with apologies to Ms. Steele...I wish I had one-one hundredth of her success as a writer!) H.I.M. the Tsarina was cast with Scarlett O'Hara-type melodrama, while every serious reader knows Alexandra was far more complex than most fictional heroines. I recommend Greg King's The Last Empress (far from perfect, but, in my view, better researched and written) or Robert Massie's legendary Nicholas and Alexandra. I'm sorry Ms. Erickson, I LOVE your Tudor series, but you really dropped the ball on this one.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars There are better books out there on Alexandra, August 26, 2003

By 

SusieQ (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alexandra: The Last Tsarina (Hardcover)

I truly disliked this biography, I thought it was poorly written & researched; melodramatic, and frankly, dull, given its subject matter. I struggled to finish it.

Better books for insight into Alexandra are: "Purple Secret" by John Rohl, et al. for its chapter on Alexandra's complex medical history; Robert Massie's "Nicholas & Alexandra" for its sympathetic understanding of Alix's traumatic childhood loss of her mother, and what it's like to be the parent of a hemophiliac (this despite Massie's inaccuracies, such as stating that Queen Victoria was strongly in favor of the marriage of Nicky & Alix and that she tried to talk Alix into it, when in fact she dreaded it), and, oddly enough, a biography of Alix's mother: "Princess Alice" by Gerard Noel, which gives excellent insight into Alix's parents and German background. Also, "Advice to My Granddaughter" a collection of letters between Queen Victoria and Alix's oldest sister, Princess Victoria of Battenberg. There is also: "A Lifelong Passion", a collection of letters between & diaries of Nicholas & Alexandra, and the relatives around them. Any one of these has more value than Erickson's book. I have not read Greg King's biography of Alexandra (to date) so cannot comment on it.

I've enjoyed Erickson's Tudor biographies, so I'm trying to be fair, but this biography didn't cut it. It was a great disappointment.