There have been many books in recent years about the last chapter of the doomed dynasty, all of which have been well placed to take advantage of modern research. Cook may not offer anything which has not already been published in other titles, but he has given us a relatively compact book free from scientific jargon which tells the story well for the general reader. His style is light and informal, and notwithstanding a light personal bias against the two leading protagonists as referred to above, I can recommend this as a good introductory volume to the subject.
For further reading, may be also suggest a detailed account of the 1918 murders, [[Ekaterinburg: The Last Days of the Romanovs by Helen Rappaport|Ekaterinburg: The Last Days of the Romanovs]] and a biography of the Grand Duchesses themselves, [[Four Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Romanov Grand Duchesses by Helen Rappaport|Four Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Romanov Grand Duchesses]], both by [[:Category:Helen Rappaport|Helen Rappaport]], one of the acknowledged Romanov experts. [[25 Chapters of My Life: The Memoirs of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna by Olga Alexandrovna, Paul Kulikovsky, Sue Woolmans and Karen Roth-Nicholls]] is an interesting study of the Tsar's sister, one of those who survived the revolution, and for those who would like a fictional account, [[The House of Special Purpose by John Boyne]] is also worth reading.
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