The Last Diary of Tsaritsa Alexandra (Annals of Communism Series) Review
It is ironic that, being the most private of persons, many of the last Tsarinia's most intimate thoughts are now available in several books, including this recently declassified diary of her final days. However, readers who search out this book are probably sympathetic, and will find her daily entries of interest and sometimes moving. Alexandra wasn't writing a best-selling novel -- simply a daily account of the tedium of their imprisonment, and how she, her family, and attendants passed the time -- but for those interested in Alix, her husband, and children, this book is a valuable link to their final days. The introduction, essay by Jonathan Brent, and other sections are all appropriate accompaniment. It will be interesting to see if excerpts from the children's diaries also are eventually published; several books compiled and edited by Russian archivists already have quoted from some of those diaries.
If you are interested in the last tsar and his family, I invite you to contact me at whitcombj@juno.com. The last Tsaritsa of Russia, Alexandra Feodorovna, was murdered with her family on the night of 16-17 July 1918 by agents acting on behalf of the revolutionary Bolshevik government. The recently declassified 1918 diary of Alexandra-published here for the first time in its entirety-provides something no other account could do: a glimpse of the Tsaritsa`s thoughts and activities from 1 January 1918 until the night of her death. The introduction by Robert Massie places Alexandra in the historical context of the Revolution, her marriage to Nicholas, and the tragic events that encompassed her, her family, and her nation.
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what i think - -
Alix's diary is a most important document,
it reveals her , but in a very different way to say
how her letters do.in her diary, it is of chief importance
to note the things she leaves out, and how laconic the
text itself is.this tells as much about her at the time
than had she written pages about her feelings and experiences.
This is an extremely important book, the last page is
agonising - the "ex-Tsarina" has written in a fine and clear
hand "July 17th" - but the page is blank. We have to read
what Alexandra didnt write - between the lines.her last
diary reveals her final states of mind, her humaness, her fear,
in those last terrible words, in the entry for July 16th.
Alix has written her own memorial here, and it is a just tribute.
Jul 05, 2010 10:25:04
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