The Last Grand Duchess: Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, 1 June 1882-24 November 1960 [Paperback]

Ian Vorres (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 6, 2001

When she died in exile in 1960, Olga Alexandrovna was the last Grand Duchess of Russia, the favorite sister of Czar Nicholas II who was executed with his wife and five children during the Revolution. Born in splendor difficult to imagine today, she endured a lifetime of relentless tragedy with courage and exceptional powers of adjustment.

The Last Grand Duchess is a valuable account of the final decades of the house of Romanov as seen through the eyes of its last surviving member. Through Olga, we meet Queen Victoria, George V of England, Rasputin, Mrs. Anderson - on whose story the movie Anastasia was made - and other impostors who plagued the exiled duchess with false hope.

In this official memoir, Ian Vorres captures the loneliness and violence of Olga's years in Russia, her loveless first marriage to Prince Peter of Oldenburg, her years of exile in England and Denmark, and her final settlement with her second husband and family in Canada.

Long out of print, and now reissued in a handsomely illustrated edition, The Last Grand Duchess is the thorough and engaging official biography of an extraordinary woman.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This light, authorised and well-illustrated biography, based upon a series of intimate conversations, is charmingly composed and utterly absorbing. (Sir Philip Magnus Sunday Times )

The story ... an astonishing verisimilitude and pathos ... a character of an almost Dostoyevskyan innocence and goodness. (Francis King Sunday Telegraph )

Memoirs about the last Romanovs are hard to resist. ... there remains the appeal of the doomed family. (The Times, London )

From the Back Cover

"This light, authorised and well-illustrated biography, based upon a series of intimate conversations, is charmingly composed and utterly absorbing....At the end Mr. Vorres uncovered a burning Russian patriotism interwoven with serene religious faith -- and an unaffected pleasure in her acceptance by a variety of ordinary men and women." -- Sir Philip Magnus, The Sunday Times

"The story ... has an astonishing verisimilitude and pathos....It is obvious that, like her brother Nicholas II, Olga was of limited intelligence, but in here total lack of pretension, her refusal to be embittered by the atrocious circumstances of her later life, and her charity and kindness, she emerges from the book as a character of an almost Dostoyevskyan innocence and goodness." -- Francis King, The Sunday Telegraph

"Memoirs about the last Romanovs are hard to resist. ... there remains the appeal of the doomed family." -- The Times

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Key Porter Books; Revised edition (October 6, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1552633020
• ISBN-13: 978-1552633021
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,751,108 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rare First Person Account, October 26, 2001

By 

John D. Cofield - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Grand Duchess: Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, 1 June 1882-24 November 1960 (Paperback)

I'm very glad to see The Last Grand Duchess in print once again. (It was originally published in the mid 1960s). This is the memoir/biography of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, youngest daughter of Tsar Alexander III and sister of Tsar Nicholas II. She lived through and witnessed a tumultuous era in Russian and world history, having been born in 1882 and living until 1960. She was born to enormous wealth in a palace and died in poverty in an apartment above a barber shop. In her final years in Canada Grand Duchess Olga became friends with the author, Ian Vorres, and agreed to allow him to publish her reminiscences. Vorres did an excellent job of preserving the Grand Duchess's voice and opinions while grounding them in as much historical research as possible.

Olga Alexandrovna was not a brilliant or well educated woman. Her voice is that of a woman caught on the wrong side of history who suffered much tragic loss. She is understandably sympathetic to Imperial Russia and blind to its shortcomings. Nevertheless, the reader will find little bitterness in her story.

Olga was an individualist who enjoyed painting and a quiet country life. She endured nearly twenty years of a mockery of a marriage her mother forced her into, then found happiness as the wife of an ordinary Russian officer. Her second marriage caused her to become something of an outcast among her fellow Romanovs in exile, but she willingly gave up their society for the life of a simple country wife and mother, first in Denmark and later in Canada.

The most valuable parts of the book today are Olga's memories of her brother Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, and their five children. Her descriptions of their loving home and family and of her brother and sister-in-law's many kindnesses are a welcome contrast to the many books which depict the last Tsar and Empress as cold and heartless. Even more important are Olga's memories of Rasputin. She must have been among the last people to clearly remember him, and her description of him is vivid and disturbing.

This is an excellent book for any student of Russia and the Romanovs.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional writing!!, January 15, 2002

By 

Susan Tuttle (Warren, Maine) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Grand Duchess: Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, 1 June 1882-24 November 1960 (Paperback)

This is one of the finest books I have read from the Romanov treasury. I have a first edition copy that took me almost a year to find and it was worth the wait. Because of Mr. Vorres research and interview skills combined the the story telling of the Grand Duchess, I was unable to put it down. In fact, I am reading it for a second time. There is no better story than that from the one who lives it. Olga was a cut above the others in the Imperial family in that she was devoted to common folk. She is revered and respected for thinking outside the box. A woman ahead of her time and one that refused to abide by the norm. I wish I could have met her in the simplest of circumstances. I recommend this book to those who a truly interested in Romanov history. She does a great justice in defense of her family.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For those interested in the Romanov's this bookis a rare gem, December 9, 2001

By 

David Logan (Brisbane, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Grand Duchess: Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, 1 June 1882-24 November 1960 (Paperback)

There are many books written about the Romanovs. Some of these are written by people who knew them as friends or as servants. There are very few books written about the Romanovs with permission of the Romanovs. Ian Vorres befriended the youngest sister of Tsar Nicholas II and was able to, with her permission, write her life story. Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna was fortunate along with her Mother, Empress Maria Fedorovna and her older sister Grand Duchess Xiena Alexandrovna to escape Russia after the revolution. Only a family member could know what it was like to be a Romanov and the joys and tragedies the family experienced. The Grand Duchess gave Vorres detailed information about her early years growing up at Gatchina Palace with her parents, Tsar Alexander III and Tsarina Maria and other private family information. She also has provided information about the family attitude to the fake Anastasia, Anna Anderson. It is truly incomprehensible for an Aunt to not to be able to recognise her neice. Grand Duchess Olga knew that Anderson was not her neice and was indeed a pathetic fraud. It is truly fascinating book which reveals how the mighty Romanovs fell and how few survived. The Grand Duchess explained to Vorres the life she lived after the revolution until her death in 1960. Vorres is basically the scribe of Grand Duchess Olga. I found it very interesting and a rare gem. I would say it is a must for anybody interested in the Romanov dynasty.