Review: The Perfect Horse: The Daring US Mission to Rescue the Priceless Stallions Kidnapped by the Nazis

I actually finished The Perfect Horse a while ago and forgot to review it - ooops!

I will admit, this one took a while for me to get into, and it never became un-put-downable for me. I usually read multiple books at a time, and this one was never the first one I'd pick up when I sat down.

However, I definitely wouldn't say it was boring. The book has a lot of interesting history about the Lipizzaner and Arabian breeds and horse breeding in general. If you're not already familiar with the Lipizzaners, there are a lot of good YouTube videos of them in action that you may want to check out to help give you an appreciation of these horses.

As an animal lover, and someone who spent time around horses growing up, it was certainly heart wrenching to read about what the horses went through during WWII, and it was also a part of the war I've never really heard discussed, so it was interesting from that angle alone. And, if you're interested in horses, the history of the breeds is also pretty fascinating. There was also a healthy dose of military history in here, particularly with regard to the move away from use of horses in the cavalry, that I found interesting and I think would probably intrigue military buffs out there.

What was also interesting, at least to me, were the lengths that some of the men discussed in the book were willing to go to protect these horses, including in some cases risking their lives.  It also reminds the reader that no matter how strongly we disagree, sometimes it's necessary and worthwhile to set aside differences for a greater cause.

Overall, while this may not be my favorite book I've read so far this year, it was well worth reading and I can recommend it to anyone interested in horses, military history, or WWII.

Series Review: Phèdre's Trilogy by Jacqueline Carey

I am not even sure where to start here, other than to say that this has been one of my favorite reading experiences in recent years, if ever. I recently finished Phedre's trilogy, the first three in the Kushiel's Legacy series, by Jacqueline Carey.

First, the basics. The first trilogy is made up of Kushiel's Dart, Kushiel's Chosen, and Kushiel's Avatar. The trio wraps up in a way that you could easily quit there (in fact, I would argue that you could read Kushiel's Dart as a stand alone, if you really wanted to). If you want to continue on, though, you move on to Imriel's trilogy (Imriel is a character introduced in the last book of Phedre's trilogy).

Second, a disclaimer. As amazing as this series is for various reasons I will address in a minute, if you cannot handle (or enjoy a book the portrays) violent sex (sometimes consensual, sometimes not) and rape, or don't think you could enjoy a book that portrays it, this probably isn't the book for you. That said, the sex is generally furthering the plot - indeed, in the first book in particular, it's pretty central to the plot. It's not generally there for no reason. And, it's also portrayed through a character that is very empowering - she's no one's victim. So take all that into consideration before picking this book up.

All that being said, it took me a long time to pick up the first book for that reason. Here's the Amazon description for Kushiel's Dart:

A nation born of angels, vast and intricate and surrounded by danger... a woman born to servitude, unknowingly given access to the secrets of the realm... 

Born with a scarlet mote in her left eye, Phédre nó Delaunay is sold into indentured servitude as a child. When her bond is purchased by an enigmatic nobleman, she is trained in history, theology, politics, foreign languages, the arts of pleasure. And above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Exquisite courtesan, talented spy... and unlikely heroine. But when Phédre stumbles upon a plot that threatens her homeland, Terre d'Ange, she has no choice. 

Betrayed into captivity in the barbarous northland of Skaldia and accompanied only by a disdainful young warrior-priest, Phédre makes a harrowing escape and an even more harrowing journey to return to her people and deliver a warning of the impending invasion. And that proves only the first step in a quest that will take her to the edge of despair and beyond. 

Phédre nó Delaunay is the woman who holds the keys to her realm's deadly secrets, and whose courage will decide the very future of her world. 

Not since Dune has there been an epic on the scale of Kushiel's Dart-a massive tale about the violent death of an old age and the birth of a new. It is a novel of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. A world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, deposed rulers and a besieged Queen, a warrior-priest, the Prince of Travelers, barbarian warlords, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess... all seen through the unflinching eyes of an unforgettable heroine.

Reading this, I was sort of expecting fantasy version of 50 Shades of Grey (I'm not at all bashing it, if it appeals to you, it's just not really an area I read much in), so I really didn't think I would like it. But it was on so many must read fantasy lists I stumbled across, though, so I eventually gave it a try. (Side note, I see it as a Kindle deal for $1.99 fairly regularly, so if you're really not sure, wait for it to go on sale. Or better yet, borrow it from a library.) I was wrong, and sorry I waited so long. Yes, there's a lot of sex, but as I mentioned above it's integral to and woven into the plot. And there is a lot more going on than sex.

Alright, now that I've told you all the reasons not to read the books, let me tell you why I loved them. They're chock full of political intrigue, interesting cultures and religions, and strong and interesting characters. In other words, they check all the boxes for me. They also have some great romance, if that interests you. If it doesn't (as it doesn't me, particularly), it doesn't detract from the story either.

The major protagonist and the major villain are both women (hurray!), and they are compelling and interesting women at that. As with George R. R. Martin's Petyr Baelish, I feel I'd really enjoy reading this same story again from the villain's point of view - I want to know what she is thinking and why she does the things that she does. The political intrigue here is top notch; there's spying, lying, back stabbing, intricate plots and pretty much everything you could want in political fantasy novel.

Also like Martin, Carey isn't afraid to kill off important characters we know well - although she's certainly not in Martin's league -  which adds to the tension and sense of urgency as you're reading. I won't say you can't guess what will happen - I think you can, especially in the last book - but you definitely can't be certain, and even if you guess some of the broad strokes, the details may surprise you.

The other really enjoyable thing here is the different cultures and settings. Phedre does a lot of traveling through all the books, exposing herself and the reader to lots of different cultures - everything from a nation reminiscent of ancient Egypt to a snowy mountain setting that might remind you of Beyond the Wall in Game of Thrones.

I feel I'm making too many GOT parallels here, but it definitely did remind me of the political intrigue and world building of GRRM, yet Carey has absolutely created her own world here. If you're wondering where's the magic? it is subtle. Again like GRRM, this is fantasy where the fantasy doesn't predominate - it's a part of the plot but not the plot. Here the primary fantasy element is that it clearly isn't our world (at least as it exists now), and that the Gods are very much considered to be/have been real people, and they are very much drivers in Phedre's personal story and journey.

Overall if you like strong world building and political intrigue, I really think you'll love this trilogy
it's already in my pile of things to re-read, and I've also already bought Imriel's trilogy. It far surpassed my expectations, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Review: The Seven Wonders

Having previously read Steven Saylor's Roma and Empire, I have been looking forward to picking up his Gordianus the Finder series for a while.

My understanding is that there are two ways to read this series; one is to stick to the core books, known as the Roma Sub Rosa series, starting with Roman Blood. The other is to start with the Ancient World series, which is sort of a prequel series to the Roma Sub Rosa books, the first of which is The Seven Wonders. I decided to start there, in part because I like to follow books chronologically, but also because I was really interested in the idea of a tour of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Colossus of Rhodes,
by gravure sur bois
de Sidney Barclay, c. 1880

I loved the history here; the book is set up as a world tour by Gordianus and his teacher, Antipater of Sidon. Antipater explains the history of each wonder as they stop, which is a great way to organically fill the reader in on the history, which was often fascinating. I also felt it was a good amount of detail; enough to be immersive and set up the history of the wonder, but not so much as to bog the reader down.

I also loved the variety of settings, as it kept the whole book interesting and engaging for me. We toured not only the various wonders, but the cultures and locales in which they are set as well, and I love learning about different cultures and eras.

The only thing I wasn't crazy about with this book was the fact that it was set up almost as a series of short stories, with a climax for each section. The primary series, Roma Sub Rosa is (as I understand it) basically an ancient mystery series, with Gordianus as an ancient detective. This, as a prequel series, is intended to show us how he got his start, which makes sense. However, I think I personally would have preferred that he focus on just the overarching mystery that runs throughout the whole book; the small mysteries in each location just felt a little contrived to me.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Ferdinand Knab, c. 1886

Gordianus just happens to stumble upon a mystery at every place they stop? It just didn't feel organic to me. I think the other reason this may have not really worked for me was precisely because so far I've only read Roma and Empire, which also have a bit of a short story feel. (They are a Michner or Rutherfurd style following of Roman history through various generations of the same family, so each section is set in a different era with a different generation.) I am looking forward to seeing Saylor stick with a character and story arc more long term - through a whole novel - rather than in shorter chunks, and this book didn't entirely deliver that for me, even though we do follow Gordianus throughout. I'm curious to see if the feel is different in the second book, Raiders of the Nile.

The Great Pyramid, Alex lbh

Overall I enjoyed this book a lot, and I'm looking forward to seeing where Gordianus' journey takes him in the future. Part of me wants to skip right to Roman Blood, but I'll restrain myself. I really do like to read series in order, and Raiders of the Nile is set in Egypt, one of my favorite settings for a book.

I can recommend this book for both historical fiction fans and mystery fans. I am hoping the mystery is more mysterious and better set up in future books - this one seemed pretty easy to spot to me - but I can see how this as a good set up for a detective just starting out and how he could learn and grow from here, so I am looking forward to seeing how Gordianus grows in future books.

Review: The Agony and the Ecstasy

I've wanted to read something by Irving Stone for a while, but put it off because most of his books are long and are not available as e-books (which surprises me as his books seem pretty popular), which is my preferred reading method. I finally inter-library loaned (if you don't know what inter-library loan is, ask your library if they offer it - it's an awesome service) The Agony and the Ecstasy, his historical fiction biography of Michelangelo. I was excited enough that I posted in a Facebook group for historical fiction fans the day I picked it up, and many people told me it was great - and they were right!

This book follows Michelangelo from he start of his career through the end of his life in his late 80s, with all the triumphs and failures (in his eyes) that this entails. It covers the creation of many of his greatest works, from the famous statue of David and paintings of the Sistine Chapel to other lesser known works.

The book is heavily focused on Michelangelo's life, but also incorporates some external events as well, particularly where they impact his life and art work. I would have liked to see some of this a little more fleshed out for my own personal preferences, but this is already a hefty read at 758 pages, so the average reader would probably disagree with me. It did make me want to pick up some other books on this era. (I already have some in mind, thanks to research I did after enjoying CW Gortner's The Vatican Princess.)

Michelangelo was very prolific and crossed mediums, which I find interesting. Stone did a great job of capturing Michelangelo's passion for his art (indeed, I've seen others poke fun at the overtly sexual way he describes carving marble, which is fair). Stone portrays him as willing to make himself ill in service to his art, and willing to stand up to popes - a dangerous proposition at the time. I particularly found his discussion fascinating regarding the lengths to which Michelangelo had to go to dissect cadavers, something he felt was necessary to be able to properly sculpt and draw the human form. This is one of the details I am hoping to confirm by reading a biography at some point.

Overall, Stone evokes a very interesting but somewhat tragic figure; Michelangelo never marries, and his great loves are generally denied to him, and he is often at the mercy of circumstances and powerful people around him.  He even sees some of his greatest loves - his artworks - damaged or destroyed by events.

Overall, I am very glad I picked this one up, and I plan to check out some of this other books in the future. I can recommend this one to anyone interested in historical fiction about Italian history or art history.

Don't forget, if you're interested in getting updates when I post a review, you can subscribe to my blog from the homepage:

Keep an eye out for upcoming reviews of: 

1. The Seven Wonders of the World
2. Phedre's Trilogy, the first three in the Kushiel's Legacy series
3. The Perfect Horse: The Daring US Mission to Rescue the Priceless Stallions Kidnapped by the 
     Nazis
4. Red Poppies: A Novel of Tibet

Review: Anna of Kleve

Anna of Kleve: The Princess in the Portrait is the third in an (anticipated) six books historical fiction series by Alison Weir on Henry VIII's wives. As with the others in the series, it starts with Anna's childhood years before meeting/marrying Henry, details how she comes to be his wife, and the end result. If you don't know her fate, I won't spoil it!

For entertainment value, this was on par with the other books in the series; I enjoyed it. I didn't really know anything about Anna going in, so I got a lot out of it. She definitely portrays Anna as a sympathetic character and, as with his other wives, you can't help but feel sorry for her.

It's also been interesting over the course of the books to see the evolution of Henry's relationship with his various wives and how different the dynamics were, at least in Weir's interpretation. Her portrayal of Henry throughout the books is nuanced; sometimes you hate him, sometimes you feel sorry for him. Sometimes you just don't know what to think. I look forward to reading her biography on him at some point. He was a little less "real" to me as a character in this than in her previous two books; because there is less of a connection between him and Anna than between him and his first two wives, we don't really get to know him as well. However, that fits well with his relationship with Anna as Weir has protrayed it.

Anna of Kleve, painted by Hans Holbein 

I always love Weir's books; you're always going to get a good story out of her fiction, and her non-fiction generally lays out her argument where there is some question in the historical record, which I appreciate. I'll always recommend her to anyone interested in the Tudor period.

My only real gripe with this novel is that she played it a little fast and loose with historical accuracy with regard to some pretty important plot points. (Incidentally, I have a similar complaint about her novel The Lady Elizabeth.) She is very clear about this in her afterward, where she explains what is factual and what is fiction (which I always very much appreciate), which absolves her somewhat. I understand that she did it to make the story more interesting, and it did make for a better read - over all Anna is just not as interesting as Katherine or Anne. However, on balance I prefer my historical fiction to stick as close to accuracy as possible, with deviations on minor plot points. This is particularly true for someone like Weir, who writes both fiction and non-fiction. This is especially true as she has made thinly veiled references to lack of accuracy in other novels, particularly The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. (Full disclosure, I put off reading Gregory for a long time because of the accuracy issues, but have been working my way through her books lately and I must admit, they do make for an enjoyable read.)

Anyway, overall I enjoyed it and can still recommend it, despite some bumps with regard to accuracy. If you're interested in this book it can be read as a standalone, although I recommend reading the other books in the series, Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen and Anne Boleyn: A King's Obsession. The remaining books in the series are forthcoming (she seems to finish them about once per year).

Review: The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold will probably end up on my list of favorite reads this year. This is not true crime in the traditional sense; if you're looking for a detailed discussion of Jack the Ripper or his crimes, this is not that book. However, if you're interested in all things Ripper and want to know more about his victims, or you're interested in society in England during this time period or the plight of the poor, this is the book for you.

I was excited, but skeptical when I read the description of this book - how would she find enough detail to fill a book about these women who, other than being Jack the Ripper's victims, might have been an oversight to history? But I should not have doubted - Rubenhold found far more detail than I would have expected. She clearly spent a lot of time with primary source materials, including (I am guessing) things like deeds and property records.

She manages to take the small details that make up the lives of these women and spin into an interesting narrative of their lives, but more importantly manages to place them in the context of their time. She punches a huge hole in the idea that all of the Ripper's victims were prostitutes, and does a great job of showing how these 5 very different women wound up in circumstances that allowed them to become his victims. In doing so, she sheds a light on the horrendous conditions in that area of London at the time, but also delves into the challenges women of that period faced, particularly if they lost the man they relied on for support and protection.

Rubenhold really resurrects these women from history and gives them back their dignity, and makes them figures of sympathy - and does so without resorting to the salacious details of their deaths. She focuses almost exclusively on their lives, barely touching on how they died, and in doing so really makes you feel the tragedy and pain of their lives, not just their deaths.

Review: The Bees

Ok, this was an interesting one. I recently finished The Bees by Laline Paull. If I had the describe it in one sentence, this book is like a mix of The Handmaid's Tale and Watership Down (yes really), but with bees; but there is really no describing this one in one sentence.

The Bees is the story of the life of a hive, through the eyes of one bee - Flora 717, who starts the story as a sanitation worker, cleaning the hive of refuse and dead bees. Through various happenstances, Flora ends up showing us various aspects of life in the hive.

Paull has created a fully-fleshed world, with history, myth and religion to guide the lives of the bees and explain the things that happen to them and to their hive. She also creates a very hierarchical world that seems to draw on the actual biology of bees - I wish she had an afterward discussing her research for this book - but that also seems to be a commentary on inequality in our own society. Not all bees are created equal, with the sanitation workers as the lowest of the low - they can't even speak. The queen, the only one who can breed, sits at the top of the hierarchy and is venerated as a god. There are also overtones of big brother, with a "hive mind" that can guide and control the actions of all of the bees.

Flora begins to deviate from what is expected of a good bee, particularly a good sanitation worker. Will she manage to evade the fertility police, and the priestesses that control hive behavior? It really did sort of remind me of a less well-fledged Watership Down, with a group of sentient animals that have their own society and culture. It was definitely not your run of the mill book, but I enjoyed it. I think it's a great book for the right reader, but is probably not for everyone.

Review: The Firebrand

After reading Stephanie Thornton's The Conqueror's Wife: A Novel of Alexander the Great, I was really interested in reading more on ancient Greece and that area of the world. I was also really interested in giving Marion Zimmer Bradley a try, so The Firebrand seemed like a great choice. The Firebrand is the story of the fall of Troy through the eyes of Kassandra, the prophetess no one believes.

While the story was a familiar one, this was a totally different take on it. The focus was primarily on the women of the story, including Helen and Andromache, through Kassandra's eyes.  Kassandra is the sister of Hector and Paris, priestess of Apollo, and she has visions, but no one believes her warnings.

One of my favorite parts of the story was the beginning, when Kassandra goes to live with the Amazon women and spends some time as an Amazon warrior. She also meets the Kentaurs, the origins of the Centaur legend. She also spends some time in Colchis, learning snake lore, and becomes the tender of the snakes at Apollo's temple. Overall, a very interesting character.

Cassandra,
circa 1898 by Evelyn De Morgan

If you're yearning for a tale of Hector and Achilles, though, you won't find it here - they are characters in the book, but get very little "on screen" time - especially Achilles. We see them only through Kassandra's eyes and conversations with others. I rather enjoyed this, as I saw more of what the day to day life of the Trojans might have been like and the effect that the war would have on the common people, rather than the focus on the legends. However, if that isn't what you're looking for, this might not be the book for you.

This book has light fantasy elements; we see what may be - it's left up to the reader to decide - appearances by the Gods, and because Kassandra is a priestess of Apollo, we get some interesting glances in to the religion of the period. And, of course, there are Kassandra's visions. Prophecy also plays a heavy role in the story, and in Kassandra's personal life and the path that her story takes.

Overall, I highly recommend this historical fiction with a light dose of fantasy. It's a retelling of the classic Troy myth, but from a different perspective I had not seen before, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Review: Remarkable Creatures

It's been a while since I posted a review; the end of the semester has been crazy.

I recently finished Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier (better known for Girl with the Pearl Earring), and I loved it!

This is the story of Mary Anning, a female(!) fossil hunter in the early 1800s. Mary was one of the first to discover an icthyosaur specimen, and was the first to discover a plesiosaur.

Portrait of Mary Anning with her dog Tray
and the Golden Cap outcrop in the background,
Natural History Museum, London

This is all the more remarkable because she had little education and lived in a poor family; she learned fossil hunting from her father, who hunted fossils to raise money to support the family.

The story is told through the lens of Mary's friendship with Elizabeth Philpot, an upper class "spinster" who also enjoys fossil hunting. According to the book, Elizabeth plays an important role in helping Mary get the recognition she deserved from the scientific community.

Autograph letter concerning the discovery
of plesiosaurus, from Mary Anning

This book combined my interest in paleontology with my interest in interesting women, so it was a pretty easy sell for me. It lived up to my hopes; it was a really interesting look at early fossil collecting, and touched on the clash between religious beliefs and the dawning understanding of what fossils really were, and how that challenged existing beliefs. It also gave some incite into the issues women of that era, both in the lower and middle classes, faced.

I am not sure the portrayal of Mary was quite as well developed as it could have been; at times she felt a little two dimensional and the intelligence she must have possessed didn't shine through as well as I might have liked.

However, I thought it was overall an interesting look at the woman and the time period, as well as the development of paleontology. It also indirectly touched on the tension between educated experts and amateurs who develop expertise through their own explorations, which is something else that interests me. I wonder how Mary Anning would be received by the scientific community today?

Review: Netflix's Ted Bundy documentary & movie, plus book recommendations

This isn't exactly a book review per se, but it's my blog so I can write about whatever I want! I recently watched both the Conversations with a Killer, the Netflix docuseries on Ted Bundy, and the Ted Bundy film on Netflix, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.

Still from Extremely Wicked

Both have gotten some flack from critics, especially the film, which some allege romanticizes Bundy. You can see some examples of this discussion here and here. I can understand why it comes off this way for some people; you don't really see anything of Ted's crimes until the very end, and you don't really even hear much about them - the focus is decidedly on his girlfriend Liz and his home life. If you ignore who he is, it almost looks like a romance for the first half. But, I think that's arguably the strength of the movie.

We didn't need another Ted the serial killer movie; it's been done. We didn't need more information about his crimes; it's everywhere. We didn't really need this movie either, but it added another dimension to the story. I thought it did a good job of portraying Liz as another of Ted's victims - I personally can't imagine the lasting damage to her psyche he must have done, and the film does a good job of showing this. And those moments that could be seen as romanticizing him? I personally felt they were a little chilling - looking at them with the eye of hindsight, knowing who he is and what he was doing in his time away from her - some of them felt uncomfortable and creepy, not romantic, because I couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking.


Incidentally, the film is based on Liz's book, which I actually read years ago. It was as very different perspective on a serial killer than any I have read, before or since. It's a reminder of the trauma they do to everyone around them, not just the victims. If you can get your hands on a copy, I'd recommend it. I believe I borrow mine through inter-library loan from my college library, so that may be an option.

It's also, in my opinion, a good reminder that not everyone who is dangerous is obviously dangerous. Most of what I have read about Ted Bundy indicates that this romantic version of him was who he was - most of the time - in his regular life. Yes, he sometimes had a short temper, yes he was egocentric, etc. But he was also charming. I think it's good for people to know and understand that.

The Conversations with a Killer docuseries was actually released first, and I watched it first. The documentary is made up of recordings of conversations with Bundy prior to his execution, interspersed with news coverage and interviews with others. It didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know about Bundy, but it was interesting (and chilling) to hear it in his own words. It was also interesting to hear how, in some cases, his statements were word for word what I have read in materials on psychological profiling. I knew that he was a very important part of our understanding of serial killers, but I didn't realize how much of the language profilers use (at least publicly) came word for word from his interviews.

It is again enlightening to hear such horrible things talked about so matte-of-factly and by someone who sounds so normal. He doesn't sound delusional or crazy. But, despite his efforts to talk about a hypothetical third person who isn't him, there's no escaping what he did to those women.

So, overall I think both are worth watching. I think it's important for the watcher to remember the reality of who he was, though, and not forget that the charming Ted was only one half of who he was, and the less important half at that. I think the judge at his sentencing really encapsulated this case when he talked about not only the horrors of what was done to the victims, but the waste of what Bundy could have been had he not made the choices that he did. I imagine it's a sentiment Bundy's girlfriend Liz still thinks about.

If you're still interested in Bundy after all this, I can recommend the book that I view to be the definitive discussion of him - The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule. I've mentioned it before on this blog, because it really is a master example of the genre. Rule, who like Liz actually knew Bundy before he was arrested, really delves into the psychology of Ted as well as his crimes. Well worth a read if you're interested in Bundy specifically or serial killers more generally.

Review: The Romanovs: 1613-1918

The Romanovs: 1613-1918 by Simon Sebag Montefiore was a big undertaking; a shared biography of the whole dynasty and 300 years of history. I think Montefiore achieved it with varying levels of success.

Each chapter, or "scene," starts with a cast of characters, which is helpful in keeping track of who everyone is, but this is still challenging (through no fault of the author), given the propensity to repeat names throughout the dynasty and the inevitable overlap of the names of courtiers as well.

Michael I of Russia,
the first tsar of the Romanov-Dynasty
(1613 - 1645). By Johann Heinrich Wedekind

Each "scene" essentially covers one generation of Romanovs, starting with the rise of the first Romanov after the "time of troubles." This is where the variability comes in - some of the chapters, at least for me, were much more engaging and interesting than others. It makes sense that some would be more detailed than others based on what is actually available in the historical record, and that some rulers would be more interesting than others based on what they themselves did, but I felt the writing quality varied from chapter to chapter as well. At times the writing style was very abrupt; it felt like we changed from point to point within the same paragraph, and it was a little jarring and made it harder to keep track of what was going on.

All told, though, this was an interesting book, particularly the chapters on the more famous Romanovs like Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, and gave me some insight into the earlier members of the family I knew nothing about. It also covered a range of information about each figure, from how they came to the throne, their military exploits and their romantic relationships. (It turns out some of the Romanov love letters would put modern sexting to shame!)

Peter the Great by
Paul Delaroche

Montefiore includes discussions of the political intrigue and courtiers around each Romanov, as well as analysis of their strength and weaknesses and familial relationships. His discussion of the modernization of Russia under Peter the Great was, for me, particularly interesting, as was his discussion of the rise of Catherine I (distinguished from the more well known Catherine the Great), who began life as a servant and eventually became the second wife of Peter the Great and briefly ruled following his death. Talk about rags to riches.

Nicholas II

And, of course, a significant chunk of the end of the book is devoted to the rule of Nicholas II (Nicky) and the fall of the Romanovs. His discussion was more in depth than some other accounts I have read, although I have yet to dig into the biographies by Robert Massie or Helen Rappaport. In particular I found his analysis of the relationship between Nicholas and his wife Alexandra (Alicky), with the added dynamics of their son Alexei's hemophilia and the power this gave to the mystic Rasputin to be particularly interesting and enlightening. The reader cannot help but wonder how things might have been different if Alexei was healthy. Montefiore clearly places blame on Alexandra for the fall of the regime, although just as clearly shows how Nicholas himself also shared responsibility, as well as the ways the generations leading up to him set the stage for what was to come.

Overall, a good primer on the history of the Romanovs which definitely piqued my interest in some specific figures in Russian history. It helps understand the peak of Romanov power, followed by the steady decline, and shows the socio-economic context of how the system of serfdom really set the country up for turmoil, but also addresses how it might have been avoided or lessened. While the writing style at times made it a slog, overall I can recommend to anyone interested in the Romanovs of Russian history.

What am I reading now?

• The Agony & The Ecstasy by Irving Stone
• The Bees by Laline Paull
• Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier 
• The Firebrand by Marion Zimmer Bradley