Anastasia's Album

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Designed to resemble a scrapbook, this striking, profusely illustrated volume presents a sympathetic and affecting portrait of the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, the last Romanov ruler (see Children's Books, Oct. 7). Brewster juxtaposes remarkably pristine period photos (some artfully hand-colored by Anastasia) with Christopher's carefully composed shots of the palaces the family inhabited and of several family possessions: a doll, a Faberg egg, a Red Cross uniform worn by one of Anastasia's sisters. His prose is equally atmospheric: Anastasia at three is "a blue-eyed whirlwind." Well-chosen excerpts from Anastasia's own correspondence and from memoirs by Romanov friends and staff heighten Anastasia's very real presence in these pages. This immediacy renders the sudden end to the siblings' carefree youth, and eventually the Romanovs' violent deaths in Siberia in 1918, all the more tragic and haunting. Ages 7-up. (Oct.)

Children's Literature - Jan Lieberman

If ever there was a way to bring an historic period alive, Anastasia's Album has accomplished that feat. The last tsar's youngest daughter tells her own story with excerpts from her letters and remarkable photos from the Romanov family's personal collection. We meet the royal family during their relaxed times - as children, as teenagers, at play, on vacation, in formal and informal poses. Anastasia was the clown of the family. The photos showing her silliness make her seem like a child of today. The warmth and caring of the family for each other makes the epilogue more chilling. The reader feels a personal tie to the family and is horrified at the senselessness of their execution in 1918.

Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot

The sad story of the last of the ruling Romanovs has been told many times, but this book provides a personal, intimate glimpse of the family through the photographs, drawings and writings of Anastasia, youngest daughter of the Tsar. It reveals a close family, full of life, but perhaps too ignorant of social events unfolding around them. Well worth reading and a great addition to history and social studies collections.

School Library Journal

Gr 6 Up-It would be difficult to find a more engaging portrait of the Romanovs. Black-and-white photographs from family albums are complemented by exquisite contemporary photographs of restored palaces. In addition, there is an articulate text and a generous use of quotes from letters and diaries written by family members or their close friends. The focus is on the youngest daughter and her story. Although a few references are made to historical events and the hardships of the Russian people during the first two decades of the 20th century, the book concentrates on presenting an intimate portrait of the last ruling family of the aristocracy. It succeeds very well. Readers looking for photographs of a broader spectrum of Russian society toward the end of the empire may wish to consult Mikhail P. Iroshinkov's Before the Revolution: St. Petersburg in Photographs: 1890-1914 (Abrams, 1992).-Elizabeth Talbot, University of Illinois, Champaign

From Barnes & Noble

This book examines the tragic lives of the Romanovs, the last dynasty of Imperial Russia, from Tsar Alexander II (killed by assassins in 1881) to his four children--Alexander III (father of the doomed last tsar Nicholas II), Grand Duchess Marie, and Grand Dukes Serge and Paul (both killed by Bolsheviks)--to the progeny of Alexander II and his mistress Catherine Dolgorouky, the youngest of whom lived in England and died in 1959. B&W photos.