The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia

In this “superb history” ( The Wall Street Journal ), award-winning author Candace Fleming tells the extraordinary true story of Russia’s last royal family—and transports readers back to a time when both a bloodline and an empire came tumbling down. “Has all the elements of a fictional thriller . . . woven into a fascinating work of history.”— The Washington Post WINNER: Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature and Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Nonfiction • A Robert F. Sibert Honor Book • A YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award Finalist • A Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of the Century He was Tsar Nicholas II of Russia: the wealthiest monarch in the world, who ruled over 130 million people and one-sixth of the earth’s land surface, yet turned a blind eye to the abject poverty of his subjects. She was Empress Alexandra : stern, reclusive, and painfully shy, a deeply religious woman obsessed with the corrupt mystic Rasputin. Their daughters were the Grand Duchess Olga, Tatiana, Marie, and Anastasia : completely isolated and immature girls who wore identical white dresses and often signed joint letters as OTMA, the initials of their first names. Their only son was Tsarevich Alexei : youngest of the Romanovs, heir to the throne, a hemophiliac whose debilitating illness was kept secret from the rest of the world. Candace Fleming deftly maneuvers between the plight of Russia’s poor masses and the extravagant lives of the Romanovs, from their opulent upbringings to the crumbling of their massive empire, and finally to their tragic murders. Using captivating photos and compelling first-person accounts throughout, The Family Romanov is history at its most absorbing.