The Family Romanov by Candace Fleming

The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming. Shwartz & Wade, 2014. 292 pages including index and bibliography.

Reading Level: Young Adults, ages 12-15
Maturity Level: 5-6 (ages 12-15)

Bottom Line: The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion and the Fall of Imperial Russia makes a pivotal time in history relatable for young readers.

We live in strange days. But the world of 1917, just one hundred years ago, was at least equally strange. The wealthiest monarch in the world, ruling over 130 million people and one-sixth of the earth’s land, was a personally decent and kind individual, a religious man, a loving husband and father—also a virulent anti-Semite and an authoritarian with an unmatched ability to deceive himself about the real state of his kingdom. His wife was a reserved woman and devoted mother, exceedingly devout, yet fanatically stubborn when she imagined she was in the right. These two personalities were ill-equipped to deal with the economic and social forces that were pushing Russia to the brink, and when two combustible factors were stirred into the mix, the stage was set for disaster. These were the corrupt and passionate monk, Gregory Rasputin, and the cold-hearted revolutionary, Vladimir Ulyanov (a.k.a. Lenin). The story is told mostly through the relationship of Nicholas and Alexandria and their five children—history as biography, where the times shape the people, but the people also shape the times. The style is simple without being simplified, and the viewpoint seems balanced, giving ample scope to the crying need for reform in Czarist Russia by including “Outside the Palace” inserts, which show the grim condition of life for far too many Russians. But Communism was even worse, its ruthlessness prefigured in the fate of the royal family. Though sad, this is history worth knowing.

UPDATE: The Family Romanov is an honor book in two American Library Association categories for 2015: The Sibert Medal for nonfiction, the YALSA award for nonfiction.  The NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) also awarded it their 2015 Orbis Pictus award for outstanding nonfiction.

Cautions: Violence, Dark/Depressing Elements

Overall Value: 4 (out of 5)

• Worldview/moral value: n/a
• Artistic/informational value: 4

Categories: History, Nonfiction, Award Winners