Susan M. (susyclemens) reviewed The Last Empress: The Life and Times of Alexandra Feodorovna, Empress of Russia on + 158 more book reviews
This is a fair, well-balanced biography of the difficult and complex person that Alexandra Fedorovna, the last Empress of Russia, was. It delves into her childhood; the influences that initially shaped her character, and her long struggle over whether to accept the marriage proposal of Nicholas II (then Tsarvitch of Russia) and to renounce her Lutheran faith for Russian Orthodox. Then, the births of four daughters, and the intense pressure to produce a son and heir to the throne, Alexis, and the devastation that his hemophaelia caused to Alexandra. Alexandra's later, dire influence over Russian politics is not downplayed and her part in the destruction of the Russian Empire is fully explored. I prefer this biography over the more recent one written by Carolly Erikson as it's longer, more thoroughly researched, and doesn't vilify Alexandra (but neither does it cover up her faults).
