I believe what Mr. Massie was saying was that the Tsardom collapsed due to a domino effect, and that one of the key dominos (though by no means the only one) was the "secret" illness of the Tsarevich, which caused an already retiring Tsarina to develop an even more problematic personality, brought about the ascendancy of the ill-perceived Rasputin, and was confusing and foreshadowing to the Russian people in general. In these respects, I think that Massie is spot-on.
Nicholas and Alexandra is a popular book, and popular books are frequently sniffed at. It is written in clear, highly readable language and takes a sympathetic, humanistic viewpoint of the last Tsar. Since the book places a strong focus on the domestic side of the last Romanovs--though certainly political, social and economic issues are covered as well--it is going to be reviled by certain people who consider it filled with pop sentiment.
It seems to me that both viewpoints need to be tweaked. While Nicholas and Alexandra is my own starting point, I've also been careful to review sources featuring other approaches. By the same token, scholars need to acknowledge the importance of popular history texts which make their topics accessible and compelling to a diverse group of people, rather than just pure academic types.
