Recommended reading/Valid sources/Advice for beginners on Romanov books

[Sarushka]

I keep returning to Fall of the Romanovs and Nicholas and Alexandra.

For photo albums, I prefer Romanovs: Love, Power and Tragedy and Nicholas and Alexandra: The Family Albums.

A nice mix between the two genres is Tsar: The Lost World of Nicholas and Alexandra.

[anna11]

Nicholas and Alexandra is probably the best over all portrayal, if you haven't read it yet. It was the first book I read, it it gives a nice, all round sympathetic view of Nicholas and Alexandra.

[GD Alexandra]

Wasn't sure where to post this but since it's books related...I need someone's advise on which books are good to read as a continuation to the introduction to the last Tzar's family.
Years ago,  I started with the basic: Massie's "Nicholas and Alexandra" and "The Final Chapter" (Thanks to an angel here I got this, because in my country: CERO) but now I don't know which book should come next.(Thing that has sent me to re-read both books.) There are so many books and I only want to read the most important ones, whether they talk about the family per se or the execution.

What other basic, important books do you advice me to get?

[Sarushka]

I'd recommend Fall of the Romanovs for information about the arrest, captivity, and execution of the IF.

A Lifelong Passion will give you a good sense of the IF's personalities through their own letters and diaries.

Greg King's The Last Empress is currently the most reliable biography on Alexandra, in spite of occasionally using information from the fabricated memoir, My Empress. Footnotes make it easy to sort out what came from that one iffy source.

Edvard Radzinsky's prose is a bit flowery and imaginative for people's some taste, but you still shouldn't miss The Last Tsar. Radzinsky was one of the first Russians granted access to the imperial archives at GARF and spent years researching Nicholas II.

If you enjoy photos, Peter Kurth's Tsar: The Lost World of Nicholas and Alexandra is attractive, affordable, and still has plenty of text.

Last of all, the Complete Wartime Correspondence is one of the most excellent resources, but it's out of print, difficult to find, and exceedingly expensive as a result.


Those are the basics, IMO.

[halen]

Sarushka, great selections!

I would also recommendHessian Tapestry by David Duff.This is a wonderful, easy to read book on the Hessians. If you are lucky enough to have this book, you may get a gigantic family tree that is awesome in appearance. Dweeb that I am, I gawked at it for hours and tried to figure out the family connections. Fun time is my life!!!

Little Mother of Russia: Biography of Marie Feodorvna, by Coryne Hallis excellent. I just finished re-reading it last week.

The Romanovs by Bruce Lincoln...

I could go on and on about great Romanov books for beginners or anyone interested in the Romanovs

Louise

[Lalee]

I hope this can help.

Just like Sarushka, I'd also recommend Tsar: The Lost World Of Nicholas and Alexandra by Peter Kurth. It has a lot of photographs and text.

The Romanovs: Love, Power & Tragedy is really good, too. It's similar to Peter Kurth's book, but probably more difficult to find and much more expensive. It's also like a classic on the Romanovs.

Another photographic tribute to the Imperial Family is Nicholas and Alexandra: The Family Albums by Prince Michael of Greece. If you are interested in seeing rare photos of Nicholas, Alexandra, and their children, then this is also really helpful. It has hardly any text at all. Unfortunately, it's out of print and is generally quite expensive. I've always seen it on Amazon.com for hundreds of dollars, but now prices have dropped quite a bit, and it is available from $57.85. Surprisingly, I never thought that it would be available for a much cheaper price than The Romanovs: LPT.

I also think that Charlotte Zeepvat's books are great. Her books are focused on the entire Romanov family, rather than just Nicholas, Alexandra, and their children, which is what we mostly see. I also think that learning about other family members would be good too, and Charlotte Zeepvat presents them in her photographic book, The Camera And The Tsars, and also in her Romanov Autumn, which has much more text.

[GD Alexandra]

Oh thank you so much Ferah, Sarushka and Halen. I'm taking note of each book. Got to save a lot. Lol.
 I'm going to look if there are any copies here in my country, if not, I'll go to Amazon. My adventure of trying to find them will start today in the closest bookstore.
Now that you've mentioned it twice, you've got me interested in Peter Kurth's Tsar: The Lost World Of Nicholas and Alexandra. Hope I'll be able to get it.
Thanks A LOT for taking your time in replying. : )

[halen]

Kurth's book is simply a must! It is beauitful detailed with wonderful pictures. It is still one of favorite books.  You could try your local book stores, used book stores, Amazon,etc. Or go to the thread Duplicate books and see if anyone there has books that you could purchase!. Yes, being passionate about the Romanovs is expensive hobby, but one well worth it. Enjoy.

Louise

[Lalee]

Another good thing about Peter Kurth's book is that it not only has photos of the Imperial Family, but also photos of their palaces and possessions.

I'm planning on buying it from my local bookstore, and I have to save up to sixty dollars. I remember reading it at a library and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It's a less expensive version and easier to find than The Romanovs: Love, Power & Tragedy.

[Charlieee]

Hi!
I have been interested in the story of the last Romanov family for a while now, but I haven't read much about the subject before, besides documentaries about their final days and the myth surrounding Anastasia's survival.
Are there any books you can recommend for someone who is wanting to find out more about Tsar Nicholas II and his family? I'm not wanting to read something too heavy.

Thanks

[Lalee]

Hey, Charlie! Welcome to the Forum!

First of all, you can look at this thread (it is similar to this one that you have started).

Do you have any Romanov books yet? My own personal recommendation would be to read Nicholas & Alexandra by Robert K. Massie. I'd actually imagine that a lot of people started by reading this book first. It is a classic and covers all of Nicholas and Alexandra's lives.

If you are not very interested in reading something that is pure text and would like to see a lot of photographs as well, you might want to go for The Romanovs: Love, Power & Tragedy. The text is simple and you will come across many, many photographs and I am sure a lot of them would be rare for you. Unfortunately, the book is not available at a lot of places and you would have to buy it online, and a lot of the time it is quite pricey. If you don't want to do that and you are still interested in reading something similar to LPT, try Tsar: The Lost World Of Nicholas And Alexandra, which is often found for a much cheaper price.

If you would also like to read the personal memoirs of those who knew the Imperial Family (like Ania Vyrubova, Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden and Lili Dehn - the Empress's close friends), then you can definitely check them out here at the main Alexander Palace Time Machine site.

If you would like to read some basic information of a list of all Romanov books, then look at the Book Finder here at the AP. Overall, I would definitely recommend to you Nicholas & Alexandra by Massie.

[s.v.markov]

.......and I have just (a few seconds ago!) put a spare copy of 'N & A' by Massie on the duplicate books thread!! Send me a PM if you want it.

[A_Ivonna]

I'm relatively new to Imperial Russian history.  I came upon it quite by accident, although I've always been a history nut, and now I'm quite hooked!  So far I've read (not necessarily in this order): The Last Tsar and Rasputin file by Edvard Radzinsky; Alexandra - Carolly Erickson; Nicholas & Alexandra and the Romanovs - the Final Chapter - Robert Massie; King Kaiser Tsar - Catrine Clay; Romanov Autumn - Charlotte Zeepvat; Michael & Natasha - can't remember the author; and lastly, Jewels of the Tsars - Prince Michael of Greece.  If you had the opportunity to recommend my next 3 books, what would you recommend and why.

[Teddy]

I think Camera and the Tsars, by Charlotte Zeepvat (a nice photobook with nice side information), Nicholas and Alexandra: the family albums, by Prince Michael of Greece and Anastasia's Album (writer doesn't come to my mind on the moment).

If I may, I want to point at the thread: duplicate books (or something like that), were you can find books for free. And I have a nice website, which I can give you, and where you can find lovely books about the Romanovs.

[TroubleTwin2]

I would love some recommendations of books on the Romanovs fiction and non fiction are both OK. As long as they are easily found like at Barnes and Noble or some place like that.
Please and thankyou.