The Last Empress: The Life and Times of Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsarina of Russia [Hardcover]

Greg King (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2001

Based largely on previously unpublished personal documents, this biography reveals the story of Tsar Nicholas's wife, a major force in the destruction of the Russian Empire, and her involvement with the infamous Rasputin.

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

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despised by Russia's masses as the heartless "German Bitch," Tsarina Alexandra, consort of Tsar Nicholas II, has been maligned and misunderstood by historians, stresses King in this wonderfully vivid biography. Princess of a grand duchy on the Rhine, and granddaughter of England's Queen Victoria, moody, fatalistic, obstinate, fervidly religious, Alexandra came to Imperial Russia's throne at age 22. Her democratic heritage, rooted in consitutitional monarchy, was quickly jettisoned in her marriage to a man regarded as semi-divine. King, a freelance writer who has mined unpublished archival material in England and Russia, argues provocatively that the Empress put her faith in debauched holy man Gregory Rasputin with good reason, for the evidence points to his uncanny faith-healing powers in alleviating her son Alexei's hemophilia. King further maintains that Rasputin's political influence on the Tsarina has been greatly overestimated; real power lay with her, King concludes, and Alexandra's sway over her husband led to the Romanov's fall. This biography is a worthy companion to Edvard Radzinsky's The Last Tsar. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In this fascinating biography of Queen Victoria's granddaughter, King thoroughly disscusses Alexandra's childhood in an effort to explain the reserved woman who believed that the tsar had a divine right to rule though her actions actually helped bring about the end of the Russian monarchy. Alexandra married Tsar Nicholas over the strong objections of Victoria, who rightly believed the Russian throne to be unstable. The marriage, a rare royal love match, was a success, but their efforts to rule Russia were disastrous. King quotes extensively from diaries, letters, and contemporary accounts and covers the recent discovery and positive identification of the remains of the tsar and tsarina and three of their five children; the bodies of young Alexei and Anastasia were not found, leaving that famous mystery unsolved. Readable and involving, this book is strongly recommended for popular biography and history collections.
Elizabeth Mellett, Brookline P.L., Mass.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 431 pages
• Publisher: Replica Books (October 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735101043
• ISBN-13: 978-0735101043
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 1.3 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,707,030 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional Research!, June 24, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Michigan, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Empress: The Life and Times of Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsarina of Russia (Hardcover)

My personal interest in the Romanov monarchy is relatively recent. Mr. King's book was the first of many that I have read regarding the subject of the Romanovs, particularly Empress Alexandra. I believe that the forenote by Nicholas Romanov says it best; That she must be viewed as two different women, the first as Empress, the second as wife and mother. I enjoyed this book so much that I have since read it 3 times, and on each occasion acquiring something more about her tragic past and upbringing. The direct influence of the British monarchy in the prior 2 generations had so much bearing on the developement of Alexandra's personality. Although her thought processes become somewhat twisted in adulthood, and her behavior having been so influenced by Rasputin, she was a desperate mother praying for a desperate answer. Even though there was so little information at that time regarding hemophilia, her self blame and lack of understanding led to her fanaticism with her faith. Nicholas simply was not the assertive man that she desperately needed and yet she pushed him so hard and isolated him from the people of Russia, that he knew no other way to lead, hence a tragic outcome. This text has a permanent place on my bookshelves. Excellent!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mesmerizing, March 9, 2007

By 

George Sands (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Empress: The Life and Times of Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsarina of Russia (Hardcover)

I just could not put down this book. It is exceptional. THis should be required reading for any history course on Alexandra and Nicholas. What I liked about it was how the author made history interesting and gave life to the people he wrote about. He brings compassion to the subjects and really explains the complexities of WW1. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in the last tsar and tsarina of Russia. It is a very intriguing read.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Still not the definitive work, June 8, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Last Empress: The Life and Times of Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsarina of Russia (Hardcover)

This book is a good retelling of the facts, with some new theories added (King's ideas about the influence of the Empress's childhood, for one) and some academic theses give the popular treatment for the first time. On the latter score, this biography, for example, is the first Romanov book which does not repeat the old stereotype that Rasputin was exploiting the trust of the Imperial family for political ends, but rather adopts the more credible line that he simply agreed with their own views. The political context is presented a little superficially, with no attention being given to the Empress's real reasons for selecting particular ministers, and the assumption made (all too easy with hindsight) that she was pursuing an illogical and doomed course. Dominic Lieven's "Nicholas II" is a good alternative picture, locating her strategies firmly in the populist tradition of the later nineteenth century. In some ways the book does not fulfill the promise of its introduction, which hints at a totally new picture. However, it is a good read and a good introduction for newcomers, and the character it presents, if less attractive, is a more lively and interesting one than that in the celebrated 'Nicholas and Alexandra'. It redresses the balance of the latter by actually discussing the Empress's work beyond the political sphere, in particular her interest in girls' education. For a fuller picture of her political role, see Joseph Fuhrmann's footnotes to her edited correspondence with her husband.