Books on Grand Duchess Elizabeth

[Namarolf]

I enjoyed the book and learned many new things -some of the Grand Duchess letters to her relatives are very interesting, and I also learned a lot about her work with the sick and poor in Moscow. However, may be you should know the book is written from an Orthodox, religious point of view, and as you may now we have some beliefs and thoughts that a non-Orthodox probably would not share or understand the same way. Anyway, I would certainly recommend the book.
Also the proper title says "martyr of Communist yoke", not "joke".  Sadly it was no joke at all...

[gem_10]

I have read somewhere in this forum that one of the members (I can't remember who   is writing a book about Ella. Well actually, I have read only one book about Ella by Hugo Mager and I am pleased to know someone else is writing a book about her. I think there should be many books about her because she is truly an admirable and unforgettable person.

[grandduchessella]

I have read somewhere in this forum that one of the members (I can't remember who   is writing a book about Ella. Well actually, I have read only one book about Ella by Hugo Mager and I am pleased to know someone else is writing a book about her. I think there should be many books about her because she is truly an admirable and unforgettable person.

Oh one can only hope this isn't another false Ella book rumor! I've had my hopes raised before only to be smashed down.   I have Mager's book and it was good, but not as insightful as I think it could've been considering that more information about her is available then ever before with the opening of the Soviet archives. The other 2 bios were written long before then (Almedingens and Millars) and both are pretty reverent (esp the latter which was put out by an Orthodox group). She really needs a good biographer.

[princessalice]

hi Mandie, your book on the Princess Elizabeth sounds so wonderful!!  you would call that "historical fiction," as it would be based on fact, but, as you said, you would add "non-characters," etc.  i am working on a children's book about the Princess Alice, Elizabeth's grandmother, that is based on the same concept.  

i have 4-5 postcards of Elizabeth, i collect them, mostly the families of Hesse, Prussia, Spain, and Queen Victoria's family, esp. her children.  i would be glad to scan them for you and share them that way.

Good luck!!!

[Maria_Pavlovna]

Thank you PrincessAlice!

[helenazar]

I have read somewhere in this forum that one of the members (I can't remember who   is writing a book about Ella. Well actually, I have read only one book about Ella by Hugo Mager and I am pleased to know someone else is writing a book about her. I think there should be many books about her because she is truly an admirable and unforgettable person.

Dear lunarmaiden,

Christopher Warwick, a British author, is currently working on a book about Ella, but it's not due to come out for a while....

Helen

[Svetabel]

Just a little piece of news i wanted to post here:-

In the new catalog for the Amsterdam exhibiton "Nicholas and Alexandra", the bibliography for further reading listed a book titled

"Elisaveta Fedorovna. A Biography. Moscow 2004"

This is the not the rumoured "new Ella book", but it doesn't seem to be a re-edition of a Russian book already existing. I can't seem to track down any more information on it, but so exciting isn't it?!

I think it`s Vera Maerova`s  book "Elisaveta Fedorovna.A biography" -but it have been edited in Russian.May be an English version already come? If so - exciting book!
I guess the best  biography of Elisaveta in Russian

[grandduchessella]

Oh very exciting news about both! I've liked several of Christopher Warwick's book so I hope he does her justice. I hadn't heard about the Russian book but it sounds interesting too--often the Russian books have the most unusual photos, not the 'usual suspects' ones and that's special for Ella as there aren't near the number of photos of her out there you'd expect.

[helenazar]

Oh very exciting news about both! I've liked several of Christopher Warwick's book so I hope he does her justice.

From what I understand, this new book will be taking a different approach than her existing biographies to Ella's personality and life,  and trying to see her more as an individual and a human being rather than through her connection to Alexandra and others. It sounds very good and I can't wait until it comes out.

[grandduchessella]

From what I understand, this new book will be taking a different approach than her existing biographies to Ella's personality and life,  and trying to see her more as an individual and a human being rather than through her connection to Alexandra and others. It sounds very good and I can't wait until it comes out.

Many thanks for the additional info. I had high hopes for Hugo Mager's book and while I enjoyed it and even learned some new information, I still didn't feel it quite captured all of Ella's complexities. While it wasn't as overtly religious & reverential as the Millar book, it still seemed somewhat locked into the prevailing views on Ella. I hope this book really does her a service and allows modern audiences to gain some real insight into her life.

[Elizabeth]

I didn't know if any of you had seen this book out there -- Ella's Story: The Duchess Who Became a Saint, by Maria Tobias -- but it's available via Conciliar Press (www.conciliarpress.com), a publishing house that's part of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese (so it respects her life as a saint of the church).

It's written for children (my Mom got it for me for X-mas even though I've passed that stage by about 30 years!), and I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but it looks interesting.  

[Alicky1872]

Elizabeth, that sounds really interesting. I hadn't heard about it before. When you do read it, would you mind posting your thoughts on it? It might be nice for my daughter, in a couple years or so! (She's one month old now!)  

[Ilana]

I actually like AE Almedingen's biography much better, though it, too, is written from a more religious point of view.

I will be looking forward to Chris Warwick's book.

[Belochka]

Perhaps I am in the minority, but I do not like this book.

While the book contains a bibliography, it does not provide an Index, which I find to be annoying.

I welcome Chris Warwick's new book, because it will hopefully present a less narrow interpretation.

[Laura Mabee]

I was browsing the library today and came arcross this book. Has anyone read it? It is a good read? or is it full of false facts?