The Intimate Life of the Last Tsarina

Princess Radziwill's biography of the last Tsarina was first published in 1929. A granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Alexandra was left motherless at the age of six by the death of Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse. She married Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia, shortly after he succeeded his father in 1894. An intensely religious, shy and obstinate woman, she deprecated the frivolity of court life at St Petersburg, shunned society, and lacked the gift of making herself popular. After giving birth to four daughters, the produced a son, Alexis, a sickly child who had inherited the potentially fatal condition of haemophilia. Once Rasputin, 'the holy man', seemed to be the only one whose presence could stop the bleeding attacks. His influence over the Tsarina, and her power over her well-intentioned but weak husband, proved disastrous and led to the Russian revolution which ended in personal tragedy for the family. Radziwill's life, critical yet sympathetic, helps to explain her personality without excusing her for the mistakes which led to the downfall of the dynasty. This new edition contains an introduction by John Van der Kiste.