Fans of Candace Fleming (The Lincolns; The Great and Only Barnum), widely recognized for her scholarly, engaging nonfiction, will immediately notice something different about The Family Romanov. It is not filled with sidebars or artifacts that leap off the page. This fascinating, handsome book is about words--not only the author's narrative, but those of the people who lived the events.
From the first paragraph, readers enter a magical other world: Russia, February 1903, St. Petersburg's Winter Palace--a building three miles long--where a party is being held for the nobility. Once the stage is set and the guests have arrived, Fleming introduces the hosts, Tsar Nicholas II and the Empress Alexandra. In contrast to this extravagance, the author then moves to the countryside, where the peasants live in "dismal" villages and don't have enough land. Sick, poor, desperate for food, some moved to the cities to work in factories where conditions proved even worse. This section culminates with an excerpt from the autobiography of a 16-year-old boy who left his village for Moscow in 1895, as he describes his living and working conditions.
Fleming's use of primary sources proves to be the highlight of this book. Not a paragraph goes by without a quote from a letter, telegram, interview, autobiography or eyewitness account seamlessly woven into the narrative. Source notes come at the end of the book in order to maintain dramatic momentum. Similarly, captioned photographs appear in two discrete sections of glossy pages.
In order to understand what happened to the Romanov family, Fleming explains Russian politics, government and economics; the origins of World War I; the tensions between Tsar Nicholas II and his advisers; anti-Semitism; Nicholas and Alexandra's relationship; and Rasputin's strange hold on the royal family. She incorporates everything in a logical, relentless account. Her descriptions of Rasputin's assassination and Alexei's hemophilia will capture even the most reluctant readers, as will the daily lives of the five royal children, from the height of their popularity to their final months under house arrest. Readers will be swept up in the tragic events of the Russian Revolution and, ultimately, witness the murder of the entire Romanov family.
Fleming traveled to Russia to research primary sources and to visit many of the places cited. She debunks myths and admits when a mystery is yet to be solved. Young history buffs will appreciate the excellent map and family tree, as well as--amid the exemplary back matter--the author's inspiration and process. --Angela Carstensen, school librarian and blogger
Shelf Talker: Award-winning author Candace Fleming recounts the rise and fall of the last tsar, incorporating first-person accounts by Russians from all walks of life.