PositiveThe Washington PostA deep dive into archives and obscure sources, Rappaport’s book exposes the feckless and ultimately futile ideas to rescue the imprisoned Romanovs that surfaced between Nicholas’s abdication and the family’s murder in the summer of 1918 ... Much of the book focuses on the action— and inaction—of King George V; indeed, one gets the sense that Rappaport’s intent is to rehabilitate the man often blamed for refusing to grant sanctuary to his Russian cousins ... In the end, even Rappaport has to agree that George \'may have been a moral coward\' in forcing his government to abandon asylum ... Rather than blaming King George for forcing his government to withdraw asylum, Rappaport’s finely researched and elegantly written book asserts that \'responsibility should be more widely, and equally, apportioned.\' It’s a fair point.
Douglas Smith
RaveThe Washington PostTackling this accepted story is no easy task, but Smith does a remarkable job by drawing on a wealth of research revealing 'how the myth of Rasputin was created.' Under Smith’s probing eye, archives yield up impressive detail and previously unknown accounts that place Rasputin’s life in a new, more realistic context ... Smith demolishes [bizare stories] through impeccable research.
Simon Sebag Montefiore
RaveThe Washington Post...erudite and entertaining...Drawing on a wide array of Russian sources, Sebag Montefiore paints an unforgettable portrait of characters fascinating and charismatic, odd and odious.
