Alexandra: The Last Tsarina

A very readable biography of this rather enigmatic lady. It almost seems like there are two Alexandras - the loving and intensely loyal friend, wife and mother, getting her hands dirty treating wounded soldiers in the war; and the reactionary and politically naïve and inflexible Empress whose actions and autocratic attitudes contributed much towards her own downfall. What a great constitutional royal family these Romanovs would have made, though, so long as their hands got nowhere near the levers of power. The book does suffer from not having any family trees, a big minus in a book which in its early parts deals extensively with the vast interconnected trans-European family of Queen Victoria.

Many books have been written about Alexandra, the last Tsarina and her doomed family. Carolly Erickson nevertheless manages to paint a portrait worth reading which combines scholarly research and a thrilling narrative.

I've always found Tsarina Alexandra to be a fascinating character. This book did a good job of presenting her in a sympathetic light, but not excluding her faults. The insights into her treatment by her Romanov relatives were new to me and gave an interesting idea of what Alexandra's day to day life must have been like. Overall the book made you wonder what might have been with the family.

This was an interesting read, and Erickson worked with information she had access to (I’m speculating here, and I am giving Erickson the benefit of the doubt here). I did a bit of research on Alexandra after reading this, and there are some things that are left out; whether it’s due to Erickson’s deliberate ignoring of the information or if the information hadn’t been found/realized in 2001 when it was published. This is mainly why I gave it 3 stars. I think Alexandra’s life was interesting, and I hope to find more books on her.

The last Tsarina of Russia, Alexandra, is told to marry a cousin she doesn’t care for specially after she meets the Prince of Russia, Nicholas. After many years of begging to the Queen of England, Alexandra’s grandmother, if she could marry Nicholas the Queen agrees. Her destiny to be Queen of Russia, her love of Nicky and their 5 children can only end in tragedy.

I learned so much about Alexandra’s personality. I did not know she had illnesses that ailed her.
Most of the book I knew about but I love to read about the Romanov’s. There is just these attraction of love for each other and their natural beauty. Alexandra loved her family and Russia she try to keep both together for her husband was not natural leader like Alexandra he show more was
lover not a fighter. I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about Russia and the Romanov. show less