Ekaterinburg: The Last Days of the Romanovs

Firstly, I was very disappointed with this book. Several points which Rappaport made have either been disproven or have no substantiating evidence whatsoever, making it an incredibly frustrating read. Her reliance on books by authors such as Greg King and Penny Wilson (who are similarly prone to writing about disproven nonsense) only emphasises how misguided several aspects of the book is, especially when talking about the imperial children.The research, although extensive apparently, is not good. Rappaport somehow gets the date of one of the most publicised and famous formal photographs of the Romanovs wrong, which was already a bad sign of a lack of fact checking when going into the book. She constantly asserts with no evidence or provenance and does not mention where such information comes from, preferring vague paraphrasing - she does not bother to give any explanation of where this information originated.Furthermore, the lack of individual page-by-page references only accentuates how unreliable the book is. A dump of sources at the end of the book is simply not a good way to organise information... it strongly gives the impression that she cherry picked sources rather than giving a full, unbiased and credible view.Something which also grinded my gears was how Rappaport constantly made a huge point of some of the prominent Bolsheviks and the guards at Ipatiev House being Jewish. This wasn't made in passing reference or to aid context to details such as their upbringing, but was rather singled out as an issue which was not explained at all. It definitely highlights the hypocrisy of Rappaport discussing anti-Semitism whilst also making constant unnecessary references to some Bolsheviks being Jewish.Overall, the research is truly not very thorough. Rappaport simply asserts rather than providing evidence to analyse and constantly goes off into unrelated drawls. I strong do not recommend that you read this book... it's unreliable, poorly substantiated and exhausting to read once you realise that you cannot trust much of what she asserts due to the lack of evidence in conjunction with her upholding of disproven events as being facts. Readers who are interested in the captivity of the Romanovs would be much better served by R. Service's 'The Last of the Tsars'. Rappaport's book is unreliable and exhausting, with the only redeeming quality being the epilogue's surveying of the fates of lesser known figures connected to the Ipatiev House

I have recently been on a Imperial Russia reading kick and I was especially interested in the fate of the Romanovs. This book is great if you want history from a more human point of view. Some historical biographies can get a bit heavy on politics or details of war but this book balances it.We learn who each member of the family was, their personal history and personality, and there's a touch of "what could have been", for example, marriage propostions for the daughters. We are given a summary of Nicholas II's reign, aswell as those of the previous Romanov rulers. This isn't the book to read if you want a thorough breakdown of Nicholas II's reign, or the full story of Rasputin, this is a book to read if you want to know the family behind the name.The book simmers with expectation and dread because we know they have a gruesome end. They have dreams of being exiled to the country and living out a peaceful life and it's heartbreaking for us, knowing what comes next.This book helped me learn about this particular period of history, and how the fate of the Romanovs tied in with the end of WWI, but it also reads like a novel. A novel about a family.

I have read quite a few books on the Romanovs fate. This one is incredibly well written which takes you into the scene .It does not make any excuses for the Tsar and Tsarina's executions but rather paints a picture of why it happened . Their abandonment by the British royal family and indeed many European royal families shows the time when dog ate dog to keep their thrones as Europe changed . The fate of their children is unfortunate and a sad chapter in Russian history ..an excellent read , recommended 10/10

it's a book with particular very inedite over the last day and the day of massacre of romanov...but I doubt nor author trame but resocont yurovski..why attend for years after writer hiw memories?...and yurovskiy is the very killer of zar? the family is true dead with the zar..or not? I believe that alone the zar and servants dead at house ipatiev..the others were shot in the location of grave....I DONT' BELIEVE IN ACID SULFORIC ...THE RUSSIANS ARE VERY LIER....is true that the world don't know either who happen to them...I dont' believe at forensic analyss ..easy ...very easy...but I dont' believe in anna anderson..her not anastasia, is franziska...anastasia dead in 1918...the bookl as very similiar to the fiels on the tzar of anthony summers and tony mangold..is very very similar...antonella

This was really interesting and humanised the family very well. However at times it felt that the author was trying too hard to sugar coat the family and stress what a great husband and father Nicholas was, he may well have been but that doesn't change the way he behaved towards his people and what led to them being in that situation. That aside, you sympathise with the family and the descriptions of their final hour are chilling and very moving.