Best Biographies/Social Histories

I also read "Nicholas and Alexandra" and yes, I found it to be quite good.
Very interesting!

However, don't you think that there was more involved with Alexandra's dependence of Rasputin than public perception??? I received the impression that there was definitely a dependence there.

It was also a shocker reading the details of the Romanov family's
execution! Much more brutal than I thought!

I recommend "Luther the Reformer" by James M. Kittelson.
Good history also well written and researched.

Yes, tomasso. I agree Alexandra was very dependent on Rasputin, because he was the only one who could stop her son's hemophiliac episodes.

But the public was unaware of the truth of the situation. As Massie said in his book, the Russian people love children, and if they had known of Alexi's affliction, they probably would've been very understanding.

However, the Romanovs wanted to keep his condition secret, because they feared it would make him appear weak - an unsuitable heir to the throne.

So, the public jumped to some unfortunate conclusions about Alexandra's relationship with Rasputin - which, considering the anti-royal sentiment that was developing - didn't help the royal cause any!

Anyway, I love talking about this stuff! It was such a good book, wasn't it?

Thank you for the recommendation about the Luther book. I'll check it out!

Anything by Barbara Tuchman. Highly respected historian who happens to be very readable.

I think I've heard of her, Tico. Thank you! I'll look her up!

Stray Cat, I loved Nicholas and Alexandra by the Massies. Do you know why they wrote that bio?

I also read, Thurber's My World and Welcome to it. Great book.

I have liked Tuchman a lot. I don't remember that she's an academic historian though she is respected. Not being a history major myself, others might address that (I think they have, thus my bringing it up).

I loved Distant Mirror and that is one thick book.

Eugen Weber has a series of highly-acclaimed (as well as highly-contested) social histories of France, including My France: Politics, Culture, Myth and France: Fin-de-Siècle.

Yes, Letty. Robert Massie's son had hemophilia, which led to his interest in the young tsarevich who also suffered from the disease.

Did you know that Robert Massie also did a follow-up book called "The Romanovs?" In that book, he lays to rest the legend of Anastasia.

Remember the woman who, for years, claimed to be the daughter of Nicholas and Alexandra, but managed to escape from the basement where they were executed?

Well, once the communist regime fell in Russia, historians were able to uncover the remains of Nicholas and Alexandra.

The woman who claimed to be Anastasia was living in America when she died, but she'd had surgery about a year or two beforehand. The hospital still had some of her tissue samples and they were able to do a DNA test using her tissue samples and DNA taken from Nicholas and Alexandra's remains.

It turns out the woman was a complete fraud. The DNA results proved there was no way she could have been the daughter of N & A!

Right, Stray Cat. I forget her name right now, but I think she was from Charlottesville, Virginia. Poor lady. If I'm not mistaken, Peter, Paul, and Mary helped the Massie's son.

You're right, Letty, she was living in Charlottesville. Her name was Anna Anderson. She must've been a pretty good con artist, because she managed to convince quite a few people!



Really? I didn't know that. Good for them!

The Devil Drives by Fawn Brodie if you find Richard Burton to be an interesting person. I do, by the way.

The Devil Drives...sounds like an appropriate title for a book about Burton! I wonder if anyone in that small Welch mining town he came from ever imagined he'd become a famous actor? He must've always had that magnificent voice!

Are we talking of Richard Burton, the actor, or the more notable one?

Gus, have you ever thought about writing your autobiography?

I'll bet a lot of people would be interested in it. Hell, I'd buy it!

Actually, I already have. It sold two copies. My mom bought one and some guy who misread the title bought the other.

Inside The Victorian Home: A Portrait of Domestic Life in Victorian England by
Judith Flanders.

I picked this up at my local library thinking I would skip around for an overview, but it was so interesting I read it cover to cover. It's all kinds of little things that make history fun. The author literally goes from room to room in a typical Victorian house and breaks down the action that would have gone there. From bedroom to nursery to kitchen to scullery to drawing room to parlor to dining room etc...the author uses a lot of source material to figure out all the details of the Victorian family. Even if you do skip around you will still learn plenty about life in the 1800's

Thanks, Green Witch. I've been trying to find a good social history like that. I'll definately put that one on my list!

Sorry, I goofed the link, will go find it again,

Ok, there it is -

Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages