Customer Reviews

Elizabeth: Grand Duchess of Russia

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Any reader of the period will have probably yearned to know more, much more about Alexandra Feodorovna's elder sister the Grand Duchess Elizabeth and this is the reason I bought the book, despite reading the several poor reviews. In fact the author succeeded in giving a much stronger picture of the Tsarina than the saintly Elizabeth, a picture much at variance with, for example, Robert Massie's Tsarina, with her passion for mauve. Mager's Tsarina is a harpie and her quoted notes to her husband about 'Ella and her clique' are chilling in their venom and arrogance. On the side of lack of detail: Mager mentions Nesterov but hardly. He fails to tell us that Elizabeth, forever the supremely elegant Grand Duchess, actually got Nesterov to design her order's religious habit - Nesterov was the leading religious artist of the day. In effect Elizabeth's habit was as much 'couture' as were any of her former gowns. There are many other details, perhaps less frivolous (but also perhaps less telling) that he would have done well to include. Just as Wilhelm II must have irritated almost everyone with whom he came in contact, it's annoying to find him so much in this book too. The section of Elizabeth's life from her taking the veil is taken at a tremendous lick. Perhaps there is little documentary evidence available, but the lack of meat - reminiscences, quotations from letters and contemporaries bar Felix Youssupov - is sad. For a non-contemplative order - the first in the Church - Elizabeth's nuns appear to have been silent all the same. There are no names, no relayed conversations, nothing of Elizabeth's doubtless frequent talks to her community. For a woman that inspired so many around her, was so much a public figure and a venerated one that the Bolsheviks feared her, this latter part of her life lacks definition. The transfer to Ekaterinburg and Alapayevsk flashes past so quickly, but again no relayed conversations and so little detail (and as Princess Helen escaped there must have been many reported).

I was much irritated by the indifferent grammar and 'typos' with which the book is littered.

Having said so many negative things about the book I do wish to thank the author for having at least written about her. It was long overdue. However, just as Michael Sullivan's book on Victoria Melita - another granddaughter of Queen Victoria - adds much to the earlier Van Kiste biography I fear we must wait for a further biography on the elusive Elizabeth to satisfy us. We must however thank Mr Mager for whetting the appetite.

An interesting look at the life of the sister of Alexandra, the last Tsarina of Russia. The book is a paean to Elizabeth, whom the author considers as saintly throughout her life (although he demonstrates that her journey towards the spiritual life was, in fact, not in a straight line).

If anything, the book illustrates just how difficult it was to be a member of Queen Victoria's family--Elizabeth's early life is the stuff of a modern day spot on the Oprah show (two of her younger siblings die tragic deaths, as does her mother; subsequently herfather wants to marry a woman of whom Queen Vicky did not approve--intrigue and collusion within the family results). Elizabeth was the major force involved in marrying her sister Alix/Alexandra to the future Tsar of Russia, and her own marriage was, well...interesting (trust me, you have to read the book on this one!)

I agree with a previous reviewer that much more could have been written about her "spiritual" journey--it would have been much more interesting than the several chapters devoted to her attempt to remove Rasputin from his postition in the court and to help "prevent" the coming revolution.

Finally, I found it annoying that the author made constant attacks on the Russian people. It was unnecessary (and incorrect) to make statements along the lines of "the typically drunk and ignorant Russian people didn't appreciate the Grand Duchess" (I'm paraphrasing here, but his point throughout the book is that the imported Elizabeth was too good for the Russian people. I am not sure that at the end of her life the Grand Duchess would have agreed with him (certainly not in her role as mother superior of the convent.)

This a very badly written book about a fascinating woman. The author's sources are not very thorough and he uses a lot of blanket statements. I was shocked by his condescending manner of the cultures with "the Tartar population in gaudy oriental dress" (267) and "the gaudy St. Basil Cathedral."(103n) He was completely patronizing and elitist in his view of Russian history and in particular the peasant and working class. He seems more interested in the frivolous details (the horror! they couldn't find Alexandra's hairdresser!)and fancy balls then real history.

What the heck happened at Carroll & Graf Publishers? Where were your fact checkers, your editors, who vetted this material? Dates and genealogies are very important when reading history concerning the Romanov's and grandchildren of Queen Victoria.....Mager....eh....what happened to your history?

Mager wrote with a strong voice and the story had a since of urgency. Even though the facts were waaaaaay off, it was a nice read. For those interested in Ella, start with "Education of a Princess."

Elizabeth was a truly remarkable Princess, and unfortunately this
book does not do her justice. Mager has an irritatingly smug
writing style, no feel for his subject, and a way of making sweeping generalizations about which he knows nothing. For
example, in a footnote he declares Nicholas II and his siblings
to have been stupid, "because their mother was probably rhesus
negative." This is nonsense. If Empress Marie was Rh- (not
known) her Rh+ children probably would have died at birth. Throughout the book, I could never see Elizabeth as more than a
shadow. One question: why was such a stunningly beautiful woman
photographed so often from the back? Mager never tells us this,
or so many other things, and the saintly princess keeps her
secrets.

This book could have been absolutely fascinating -- as fascinating as Elizabeth herself. But she is treated with the same kind of stilted sanctity one might expect of a high school report. Furthermore, the editing that a high school report would have been MUCH much better. Not only are there factual errors, there are a number of grammatical flaws in the work that are distracting and ultimately destructive.

It's too bad the author and publisher couldn't have mustered up more enthusiasm for the woman... she must have been totally remarkable.

Any reader of the period will have probably yearned to know more, much more about Alexandra Feodorovna's elder sister the Grand Duchess Elizabeth and this is the reason I bought the book, despite reading the several poor reviews. In fact the author succeeded in giving a much stronger picture of the Tsarina than the saintly Elizabeth, a picture much at variance with, for example, Robert Massie's Tsarina, with her passion for mauve. Mager's Tsarina is a harpie and her quoted notes to her husband about 'Ella and her clique' are chilling in their venom and arrogance. On the side of lack of detail: Mager mentions Nesterov but hardly. He fails to tell us that Elizabeth, forever the supremely elegant Grand Duchess, actually got Nesterov to design her order's religious habit - Nesterov was the leading religious artist of the day. In effect Elizabeth's habit was as much 'couture' as were any of her former gowns. There are many other details, perhaps less frivolous (but also perhaps less telling) that he would have done well to include. Just as Wilhelm II must have irritated almost everyone with whom he came in contact, it's annoying to find him so much in this book too. The section of Elizabeth's life from her taking the veil is taken at a tremendous lick. Perhaps there is little documentary evidence available, but the lack of meat - reminiscences, quotations from letters and contemporaries bar Felix Youssupov - is sad. For a non-contemplative order - the first in the Church - Elizabeth's nuns appear to have been silent all the same. There are no names, no relayed conversations, nothing of Elizabeth's doubtless frequent talks to her community. For a woman that inspired so many around her, was so much a public figure and a venerated one that the Bolsheviks feared her, this latter part of her life lacks definition. The transfer to Ekaterinburg and Alapayevsk flashes past so quickly, but again no relayed conversations and so little detail (and as Princess Helen escaped there must have been many reported). I was much irritated by the indifferent grammar and 'typos' with which the book is littered.

Having said so many negative things about the book I do wish to thank the author for having at least written about her. It was long overdue. However, just as Michael Sullivan's book on Victoria Melita - another granddaughter of Queen Victoria - adds much to the earlier Van Kiste biography I fear we must wait for a further biography on the elusive Elizabeth to satisfy us. We must however thank Mr Mager for whetting the appetite.

When one picks up a book of this type, one hopes to learn something new, or come away more than just a glimpse into the life of these personages. This biography of Elizabeth seems to be gleanings from other biographies, and never really reveals much about the Grand Duchess. Two recent biographies, one on the Grand Duke Michael, the last tsar's brother, and another on the Grand Duchess Victoria, the Grand Duke Kirill's wife are much more interesting and will give basically the same overview concerning the Grand Duchess as these pages did. There is no detail here. There are no confirmations, only the authors suppositions. With the Grand Duchess Elizabeth being one of the fascinating characters in the Romanov tragedy one would hope to find a much more involved biography. If anyone is reading a biography of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth, they probably already know something of her, this book once finished leaves you with the same information you had when you finish the last page as you had when you first sat down to read it.

Of the numerous biographies I've read, this is one of my favorites, of Elizabeth, Grand Duchess of Russia, a Romanov that few people know about. A young woman of remarkable beauty, Elizabeth, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, meets and falls in love with Serge, a duke from the Russian royal family. Enamored, Elizabeth leaves her home and her family, converts to the Russian Orthodox faith and weds the duke she loves. This may sound like any fairy tale story, however its not. Soon after marriage, Elizabeth's life spirals downward after discovering her husband is a closeted homosexual and a rather cruel man. Not to be shamed by this situation, Elizabeth maintains her pose in her new home. She delves deeper into her new religion, becoming a nun after the assassination of her husband. Elizabeth's life is truly tragic, for with the coming of the Russian revolution, she too loses her life because of the Bolsheviks just as the majority of her beloved family: her sister Alexadra, the Czarina, her brother-in-law Nicholas the Czar, her nieces Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, and her nephew Alexei, along with others of the royal family. Her horrible death is as outrageous as her families and it will leave you crying at the end, since she was a good woman, devout to her faith and her country. A great book to read, no doubt about it.

i really wish this book would had talk more about her marriage to grand duke serge a closed homosexuality who married the most beautiful princess in europe.but deny her a normal marrige or the childern she wanted so badly.i enjoy the part were she gives up her world things to take care poor/sick,how she found peace in religion.to me she would had been a better csarina than her sister alix.