“"Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord." (Obadiah 1:4). Thus was the last scripture reading of the Tsarita to her daughters prior to their murder. This historical work is a powerful account of the last Tsar, Nicholas II, and the last of the royal Romanov family, who were killed by the Soviet communists in 1918. This investigative story is told by means of diary entries by the Tsar, his wife Alexandra (Queen Victoria's granddaughter), as well as by many eye-witness accounts. The story is the culmination of a twenty-five year study by Edvard Radzinsky, a historian and one of Russia's foremost playwrights. The story includes many poignant insights into the political and religious turmoil of early 20th century Russia - - including my favorite, "The Russian people are the most submissive of all when they are sternly mastered, but they are incapable of ruling themselves. No sooner is the bridle loosened than they lapse into anarchy; they need a master, an unlimited master; they walk a straight path only when they feel an iron fist over their head" (p.174). The only shortcoming of the book from my perspective was that I would have liked to learn more of the mysterious holy man, Grigory Rasputin, who held such sway over the Tsar and his wife. The ending of the book has some surprises, which I won't spoil for those who want to read this book; suffice to quote the New Yorker, it is a "superb detective story."”
tapbirds wrote this review Saturday, November 7 2009.
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