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Book Review of The Last Tsar : The Life and Death of Nicholas II

The Last Tsar : The Life and Death of Nicholas II
reviewed on + 1775 more book reviews


The author obtains most of the text from diaries, letters, and the like, interspersing these with explanatory text that moves the history along very effectively. I read on the subway only Chapter 8: The Fall of Atlantis, pp. 169-209, which deals with the time of the Provisional Government. As it is a somewhat familiar story one can read almost any chapter with appreciation; I also liked that the author gives the fate of the characters in the text, such as the poorly attired revolutionary that takes pleasure in bringing an arrest order to the former Czar. This chapter would also serve as good supplemental reading for interested high school students in a history class that emphasizes reading a hundred pages a week. (10 pts for reading this, 10 pts for group discussion).
I chose this chapter to read because I wanted to see how the author handled Kerensky. When I was 13 an older student saw me reading 'I Am Anastasia' and talked me into going with her to call on Mr. Kerensky who was wintering in Santa Monica. I don't remember how she knew that or his address (he long worked for the Hoover Institution) but we took the bus across town and he was nice to us. On the way back she accepted my offer to buy some fried shrimp on the Pier (3 for four bits) and insisted on going Dutch, buying a couple of sodas. She was 15 so we never had another 'date' but would say hello when I got to high school.