The Romanovs: Love, Power and Tragedy [Hardcover]

Alexander Bockanov (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian

Product Details

• Hardcover: 321 pages
• Publisher: Leppi Publications; First edition (1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 095216440X
• ISBN-13: 978-0952164401
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,372,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars INTIMATE AND BEAUTIFUL!, January 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Romanovs: Love, Power and Tragedy (Hardcover)

A beautiful look at the last Imperial Family of Russia. Anyone with an interest in Nicholas and Alexandra would love to own this book. Although the text is interesting and informative, it is through the photographs, taken from the Romanov family albums, that we come to know them so intimately. Both Nicholas and Alexandra were phtography enthusiasts; they and their five children all owned cameras and used them frequently.

Lavish and gorgeous, this book is also unique. I cannot recall one other famous person (or family) to whom we have such intimate photographic access. Reproductions of the family's letters and diaries are also included.

This book would certainly be a beautiful and treasured addition to any Romanoy collection.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolute Excellence!, April 29, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Romanovs: Love, Power and Tragedy (Hardcover)

I am a real Romanov buff, and own an extensive Romanov library, including collectors' goodies like Palelogue's `An Ambassador's Memoirs', Pierre Gilliard's `Thirteen Years At The Russian Court', Count Paul Vassili's (Princess Catherine Radziwill's) `The Intimate Life Of The Last Tsarina', and Grand Duchess Marie Pavlona the Younger's `Education Of A Princess', as well as many, many modern biohistories of the Romanovs-and-late-Tsarist-Russia --- to name a few. My collection also includes just about every book of Romanov photographs available. (I buy them as soon as I can, after I hear of a new one, and I've gone without *lunches* to save money for my Romanov books!)

All this by way of prologue to the following statement: This book is absolute excellence. If you must choose between lunch for a week and the book --- buy the book. If you live in the outback, postal service and phone lines are down for the coming week and the nearest bookstore is 25 miles away through roadless, Survivor-type territory and you only have two days to get there before they sell their one copy to someone else --- pack your backpack, grab your granola, and start walking.

It's just that good.

This is the first book on that ill-starred family that I've seen that *successfully* manages to combine actual *text* along with the photographs and documents offered; while some are much better than others, Romanov "coffeetable" books do tend to be lazy about text, relying on photos and documents to carry the weight. And they pretty much *can*, of course, as they should ---but what a delight to find a book that tries so hard (and very, very often succeeds) for a sense of balance between the three. The wealth of photographs show many that *have* been published many times before, but there is also such a wealth of shots that have been seen very rarely or not at all, prior to this. The documents and artifacts depicted range much farther than in most efforts, and again, what's presented is partly familiar but just as often very unique. Yes, the text has an occasional clumsy and/or sentimental moment (as what book does not?) but on the whole, every page of it is informative and deeply satisfying. There are intelligent ideas and analyses to be found in here, not just the usual reporting of events. And the book itself is aesthetically gorgeous; even the pages have that heavy, creamy, old-time look and feel.

Obviously, I cannot recommend this book too highly. On my scale, it's not a five but a ten!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LOADS of fresh pixs..., February 25, 2000

By 

Kaliopi Pappas "Tatiana Larina" (Stockton, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Romanovs: Love, Power and Tragedy (Hardcover)

This book is a MARVELLOUS photographic resource...it's filled with hundreds of wonderful photos. Also has great info...interesting anecdotes and details you won't find in most other Romanov books. More fun than Massie!