More books!

I don't really have anything new to report today so I'll fill you in on a few more books I've read about Russia. (I keep a "book diary" so I can go back and refresh my memory about my favorite books and authors.)

Edvard Radzinsky wrote "The Last Tsar" about Nicholas II and his doomed reign as the last of the Romanov family to sit on the throne of Russia. In the same vein, Greg King and Penny Wilson explored "The Fate of the Romanovs", researching what happened to some of the extended royal family during and after the Revolution. "Once a Grand Duchess: Xenia" focuses on the life of Nicholas' sister who spent her last years in rural Canada.

When Nicholas II abdicated the throne for himself and his only son, Tsarevich Alexei, his brother, Grand Duke Michael, would have been next in line for the throne. Micheal refused the crown (in a carefully worded way that left things open for future speculation) but was executed by the Bolsheviks shortly thereafter. Given his marriage to a divorcee, Natasha, he wouldn't have been eligible to rule anyway - he had married without the Tsar's permission which was a major no-no. Their story is told in "Michael and Natasha" by Rosemary and Donald Crawford.

Rasputin, the so-called "Mad Monk" was another major player in the tragic end of the Romanov dynasty. Edvard Radzinsky tackles Rasputin's life in his book "The Rasputin File".

Robert K. Massie, mentioned in an earlier post as the author of "Nicholas and Alexandra", moved back in time to profile a more successful tsar in his book "Peter the Great". Joan Haslip explores the life of Peter's granddaughter-in-law in her book "Catherine the Great" as does Carolly Erickson in "Great Catherine". Returning to the 20th century, Dominic Lieven gives us another biography of "Nicholas II".

Leaving the royal Romanovs far behind, I read "Last of the Breed" by Louis L'Amour. Louis L'Amour? Didn't he write westerns? Yes, but he wrote a lot more than westerns. Louis L'Amour was Daddy's favorite author; when I inherited all his books I started reading some of them just to find out why Daddy liked him so well and I was hooked! "Last of the Breed" is a spy novel about an American officer (who happens to be a Native American) who is shot down over Siberia in the midst of the Cold War and spends months evading Soviet authorities and living off the land in the taiga, the great forested area in northeastern Russia. I certainly didn't expect to learn about Siberia by reading a Louis L'Amour novel!