Hidden Treasures of the Romanovs [Paperback]

William Clarke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 16, 2009

The story of the Romanov jewels and of Englishman Albert Stopford who risked his life to smuggle millions of pounds worth of of the precious gems from Russia to London in 1917.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'This is a riveting account, highly recommended for all devotees of the Romanovs.' European Royal History Journal ' ... an absolute gem. ... wonderful illustrations.' Royal Book News

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Woodstocker Books (July 16, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1905267258
• ISBN-13: 978-1905267255
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #843,229 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A biography of Albert Stopford - friend to Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna of Russia, November 23, 2009

By 

K. Maxwell "katmax1" (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Hidden Treasures of the Romanovs (Paperback)

This book is a biography of Albert Stopford, the man who rescued the jewels of Grand Duchess Marie Palvona during the Russian revolution. The title is somewhat misleading in that you might expect a book on the Russian royal jewels and treasures, but in fact what you are getting is the full story of a figure that often appears on the fringes of many Romanov stories during the revolution.

Stopford was a man who led a very varied life. His father was a vicker in an English village but his family had connections to Queen Victoria and he was able to use these connections to eventually become a high class antique dealer and confidential courier to royalty. Stopford was also gay in era when that was enough in itself to land you in jail and it was a fact that was to have unfortunate consequences later in his life.

I found this an interesting book that filled in some gaps found in other books. It also had some interesting information on Marie Pavlovna (who deserves a book of her own), but at the same time I found it slightly disappointing from the image section as it doesn't actually provide a lot of pictures of the jewels Stopford when through so much stress saving. This is a fill-in-the-blanks book for people interested in the Romanov's but not really a must have volume.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars they should change the title, March 29, 2010

By 

J. Stalmack "book lover" (Downers Grove, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hidden Treasures of the Romanovs (Paperback)

I thought this would be more about the hidden treasure with pictures and details. Rather this was a poorly written book about a friend of the royalty who got out some treasure and then somehow did something that made time forget him. I was often bored and confused as the narrative jumped around.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a clear focus on the topic indicated by the title, February 7, 2011

By 

C. R. Went (Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hidden Treasures of the Romanovs (Paperback)

This book does have some interesting spots, but it doesn't have a clear focus- it details mainly Stopford's life, and touches on other areas, including that of the jewellry- but one could be forgiven for wondering where the rest of the book about the jewellry is, as promised by the title, as the book only lightly deals with it. It does have some glaring inaccuracies, too- the biggest howler is claiming that post- World War One, the British royal family chaged their name to Windsor from- as he spells it- Battenburg. For a start Battenberg is spelt with an 'e'- hence the family changing it to Mount Batten after WWI- if it was Battenburg they would have had to change it to Batten Town ( burg=town, berg=mountain) and the British royal family has never been associated with that name- it was Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Little things like this put one off.