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The Court of the Last Tsar: Pomp, Power and Pageantry in the Reign of Nicholas II | 
| Author: Greg King
Publisher: Wiley
Category: Book
List Price: $35.00
Buy New: $19.59
You Save: $15.41 (44%)
New (33) Used (14) from $19.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 200508
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 576
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.7
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 7.6 x 1.7
ISBN: 0471727636
Dewey Decimal Number: 947.08308621
EAN: 9780471727637
ASIN: 0471727636
Publication Date: March 24, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Good Condition, delivery time 10 to 12 Working days, via Priority airmail from UK
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Product Description
Praise for The Court of the Last Tsar
"Any book by Greg King is a book to be kept and savored. He has not only given us a fresh, clear-eyed, and often startling new look at the life of the last Romanovs, but also lived up to the promise of his title. He has shown us how the whole enterprise worked, from Tsar Nicholas to his lowest cook and chambermaid. This book is a great work of scholarship--and a wonderful read."
--Peter Kurth, author of Tsar: The Lost World of Nicholas and Alexandra and Anastasia: The Riddle of Anna Anderson
"A mammoth, monumental achievement. No other book captures the essence and the entire scope of life at the court of Nicholas II. It's a thoroughly enjoyable and encyclopedic masterpiece that will be a major source for historians and biographers for years to come."
--Marlene A. Eilers, author of Queen Victoria's Descendants and publisher of Royal Book News
"Greg King has truly written a tour de force. The book is extremely well researched, has over 100 illustrations and is, quite simply, marvelous."
--Coryne Hall, author of Little Mother of Russia, Once a Grand Duchess, and Imperial Dancer
"Greg King is emerging as one of the leading authorities in today's liveliest field of Russian studies, and this is a major contribution to the study of late Imperial Russia."
--Joseph T. Fuhrmann, author of Rasputin and the editor of The Complete Wartime Correspondence of Tsar Nicholas II and the Empress Alexandra
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 The Court of the Last Tsar is a big book explaining the enigma of the life of Nicholas & Alexandra and their court February 4, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
The Court of the Last Tsar is a long book of almost 600 oversized pages, elaborately illustrated and expensive to purchase. It is worth the rubles required to acquire it for your home library. Historian Greg King wrote a similar book on life at Queen Victoria's court called "Twilight of Splendor. These two volumes are both well researched and add insight to one's understanding of royalty in the nineteenth century.
We all know that Nicholas II and his German wife Alexandria along with their five children: Olga, Tatania, Marie. Anastasia and the tsaravich the hemophiliac Alexis were executed by the Bolshevists in 1918. Their life was tragic but until the Revolution they lived a life of incredible materialistic wealth and glamour. Nicholas was one of the richest men in all the world. He though little about alleviating the suffering of his vast nation and reluctantly accepted the Duma and small democratic reforms.
King divides the book into several sections:
Part One: Personages: We learn all about the Romanov dynasty which ruled Russian for three centuries. Nicholas was the 18th and final Tsar before the red tide of communism swept the family into history's dustbin. Nicholas was a mediocre ruler who proved to be a uxorious husband. He was short and loved dressing in military uniforms. His thinking was conventional and he relished life as an autocratic ruler. During his reign from 1894-1918 pogroms were held against Jews; the 1905 revolution was crushed and people had little liberty. His concern was focused almost solely on his family. He was cousin to both Edward VII of Great Britain and Kaiser Wilhelm of Germay. He loved England and he and Alexander often visited there and other nations. Alexandra was beautiful but came across as cold and shy. She was disliked by the Russian people. She sought spiritual solace from Rasputin when her son became ill. The daughters were charming but spoiled as was little Alexis. King spends several pages on other mothers of the Romanov clan.
II. Palaces-Details galore on the major palaces of the Tsar are chronicled. These palaces include: St. Petersburg's cold Winter Palace;
the retreat at Tsarkoye Selo. Peterhof and Moscow palaces. Many of the architectural terms the author uses will have to be looked up in a dictionary by lay readers. We learn how the servants lived and what a day was like in a Russian palace.
III.Possessions: Fabulous Faberge Eggs! Priceless bracelets, rings and necklaces are discussed in detail. We learn about the carriages used by the Romanovs and life at their country homes.
IV. Pageantry: One of the most interesting of the sections it deals with the funeral of Alexander III, the wedding of Nicholas and Alexandria, the coronation of the tsar in 1896 and the tercentenary of the Romanov dynasty celebrated in 1913.
V. Pleasures: We go to the imperial balls of the era, enjoy state visits to such locales as Paris and join the family at rest in the Crimea.
Epilogue: With the outbreak of World War I in 1914 the life of the Tsar and his tragic family destroyed their lives and plummeted Russian into revolution and the overthrow and murder of Nicholas and his family.
King spends little time explaining the depth of the poverty stricken lives of most Russians. His focus is on the tsar and his court. In this he does an excellent job. The book is beautifully designed and allows us to travel back in our time machine to a vanished era. Well done!
one of my favorites November 1, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
i love this book,it is so hard to find good books about the czar.thanks for the great service.
Review August 27, 2007
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I received item in a timely manner and in great condition. I would definitely recommend this seller.
 very nice book March 15, 2007
1 out of 9 found this review helpful
this book is detailed and very nice illustrated, wunderful book! a must have for everybody!
LOVED IT! March 10, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
For Academics and fans alike, this book is an invaluable source of information on the Romanov Family of Russia. Greg King is an expert on this family and I trust what he writes. He also laid the book out in chapters centering on different areas of interest such as their source of income AND he is the first author on the subject to convert the Ruble of yesterdday into the Dollar of today. Truly astounding to see what these people were making AND spending as fast as they could while the country suffered in abject poverty as they partied the nights away.
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