The Last Days of the Romanovs

Tragedy at Ekaterinburg

By: Helen Rappaport

Narrated by: Anne Flosnik

Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Helen Rappaport, an expert in the field of Russian history, brings you the riveting day-by-day account of the last 14 days of the Russian Imperial family, in this first of two books about the Romanovs.

The brutal murder of the Russian Imperial family on the night of July 16 to 17, 1918, has long been a defining moment in world history. The Last Days of the Romanovs reveals in exceptional detail how the conspiracy to kill them unfolded. In the vivid style of a TV documentary, Helen Rappaport reveals both the atmosphere inside the family's claustrophobic prison and the political maneuverings of those who wished to save - or destroy - them. With the watching world and European monarchies proving incapable of saving the Romanovs, the narrative brings this tragic story to life in a compellingly new and dramatic way, culminating in a bloody night of horror in a cramped basement room.

©2008 Helen Rappaport (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"An absorbing, lucid and authoritative work." ( Publishers Weekly)

A Fascinating and Informative History

I've been fascinated by the Romanovs ever since I saw the animated Anastasia movie as a child, so it was a no-brainer for me to snatch this book up when it came on sale, and I'm glad I did.

This book was a comprehensive, easily digestible, and well-organized history of the Romanov Dynasty and their end. I believe Rappaport is more of an author than a historian, but I think that serves this book well. It's not meant to be a textbook, and it's an easy, engaging read. As someone who does enough academic reading for school, this book felt much more like a hobby listen, despite the fact that it's a historical non-fiction.

I loved the depth of information Rappaport included in the book, branching out into the larger geo-political and socio-economic realms that really contextualized why the Romanovs faced the end they did. Many chapters were dedicated to important figures, movements, and locations outside the immediate family, and that context added a lot to the text as a whole. She also did a great job of humanizing each person, showing both their strengths and weaknesses in a generous but realistic way.

The narration was also stellar, and I would highly recommend this for anyone interested in this era of Russian history.

Great follow up to "The Romanov Sisters"

I listened to "The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra" before I listened to this book, which was amazing. This book took a deep-dive to the last few months of the Romanov family and really explained what happened. A little slow at times, but overall was a great relay of information. The only drawback is they changed narrators from "The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra" who I really liked so I had to get used to that. At first it detracted from the story but then I got used to her voice.

Overall good read

Overall a good read with some outdated information based on the time of publication. Worth a read for any Romanov or Russian Revolution fan.

GREAT

I really enjoyed the story. I wish the author would have given us some more background on each of the family members, instead of just a few. Also, i noticed that some pronunciations were different than in other books i have heard on the same topic.
Anyone interested in this topic should give this book a chance. Very informational!

Socialism is communism

Do we want to be like the Russians? People need to know history better and not repeat it.

So much detail

I loved just how much detail was packed into this book and I love how we as readers get such a wonderful depiction of what the family was like.

Narrator’s voice

The narrator’s voice sounds like a robot. Became very hard to listen to at times.

A Great Lesson in History!

A well doccumented and historical review of the life of the tzar and family. This was a great way to learn about what led up to the slaughter of the Romanovs. I really enjoyed this.

Overall wonderful

This book taught me so much about the Romanov family and their tragic ending. At least one reviewer complained about the narrator’s voice but I actually think she’s pretty good. You just have to accept her voice as being different. She’s a little bit more even-toned than some narrators, but I think it works in this case. She sounds reserved and intelligent. I loved this book!

They had great faiths

A bit too much detail about their daily lives and it became too repetitive. But I still enjoyed it and learned alot