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The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport

1/1/2018

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Goodreads Blurb:

They were the Princess Dianas of their day—perhaps the most photographed and talked about young royals of the early twentieth century. The four captivating Russian Grand Duchesses—Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia Romanov—were much admired for their happy dispositions, their looks, the clothes they wore and their privileged lifestyle.


Over the years, the story of the four Romanov sisters and their tragic end in a basement at Ekaterinburg in 1918 has clouded our view of them, leading to a mass of sentimental and idealized hagiography. With this treasure trove of diaries and letters from the grand duchesses to their friends and family, we learn that they were intelligent, sensitive and perceptive witnesses to the dark turmoil within their immediate family and the ominous approach of the Russian Revolution, the nightmare that would sweep their world away, and them along with it.

The Romanov Sisters sets out to capture the joy as well as the insecurities and poignancy of those young lives against the backdrop of the dying days of late Imperial Russia, World War I and the Russian Revolution. Rappaort aims to present a new and challenging take on the story, drawing extensively on previously unseen or unpublished letters, diaries and archival sources, as well as private collections. It is a book that will surprise people, even aficionados
On this day in 1993 (July 9th) the remains of 5 Romanov family members were identified. Next year, on July 17, 2018, it will be the centennial of their deaths. I find the day that their identities were restored to be a fitting and haunting day to finish such a poignant history.

The fate of the Romanov family is well known. It was popularized with my generation through the cartoon feature film Anastasia -- holding out the hope that one of the ill-fated Romanov daughters survived. While this has sadly proven to be a false hope, the remaining mystery of what happened to the Romanovs during their horrifying final minutes is an engrossing one.

That said (and maybe this is a bit of a spoiler so proceed accordingly), Helen Rappaport does not focus on how the Romanov daughters died. In fact, there is no detail pertaining to their deaths at all. Rappaport focuses on how they lived. It was wonderful to see how the Romanov girls interacted with their siblings and their parents as they functioned within what seemed to be a very healthy family life. It was sobering to realize that these were girls who had hopes and dreams and envisioned a future for themselves. And it was bittersweet to read about their joys, sorrows, and plans...all the while knowing what was in store for them.

On a technical aside, I "read" the audiobook narrated by Xe Sands -- she was fabulous.

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The Road to Jonestown by Jeff Guinn

12/29/2017

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What a fascinating glimpse into the life and mind of Jim Jones..the infamous cult leader behind the Jonestown settlement in Guyana. Jones is probably most remembered for forcing the suicide (so...murder?) of his cult in 1978. He can also be credited with adding the phrase "drink the Kool Aid" to the pop culture lexicon thanks to killing his Peoples Temple members with the addition of cyanide poison into vats of Flavor Aid (a Kool Aid knock off).

Jeff Guinn starts at the beginning -- with Jones's birth. It was so interesting to see the evolution of Jim Jones. We go from his childhood and eventual marriage to Marceline...to Jones's hopping around church denominations...to the establishment of the Peoples Temple...and then, ultimately, to Jonestown. One can easily find the horrific images of the aftermath at Jonestown...but HOW does it get to that point? Guinn sympathetically presents the information to where one feels sorrow at its culmination...as well as anger that it even happened. 

I will note that the book, while continually moving forward, does seem to stall out about halfway through. One can only state so many times how Jones was a bona fide con man during Temple services. Guinn presented Jim Jones's cancer "healing" trick on several occasions...each time presenting it like he hadn't already addressed it before. It just became a bit repetitive to continually visit service after service in town after town of Jones conning the service attendees. Once I was through that bit, however, the book picked back up as we sped toward Jonestown.

Ultimately, this book documents a tragedy that is almost incomprehensible. How does one man control the minds of over 900 people to where they would kill themselves (some willingly, some not) just because he says so? Does absolute power corrupt absolutely? Or, was Jim Jones evil from the very beginning?
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Goodreads Blurb:

By the 
New York Times bestselling author of Manson, the comprehensive, authoritative, and tragic story of preacher Jim Jones, who was responsible for the Jonestown Massacre—the largest murder-suicide in American history.

In the 1950s, a young Indianapolis minister named Jim Jones preached a curious blend of the gospel and Marxism. His congregation was racially integrated, and he was a much-lauded leader in the contemporary civil rights movement. Eventually, Jones moved his church, Peoples Temple, to northern California. He became involved in electoral politics, and soon was a prominent Bay Area leader.

In this riveting narrative, Jeff Guinn examines Jones’s life, from his extramarital affairs, drug use, and fraudulent faith healing to the fraught decision to move almost a thousand of his followers to a settlement in the jungles of Guyana in South America. Guinn provides stunning new details of the events leading to the fatal day in November, 1978 when more than nine hundred people died—including almost three hundred infants and children—after being ordered to swallow a cyanide-laced drink.

Guinn examined thousands of pages of FBI files on the case, including material released during the course of his research. He traveled to Jones’s Indiana hometown, where he spoke to people never previously interviewed, and uncovered fresh information from Jonestown survivors. He even visited the Jonestown site with the same pilot who flew there the day that Congressman Leo Ryan was murdered on Jones’s orders. The Road to Jonestownis the definitive book about Jim Jones and the events that led to the tragedy at Jonestown.

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Twilight of Empire by Greg King and Penny Wilson

12/25/2017

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Goodreads Blurb:

On a snowy January morning in 1889, a worried servant hacked open a locked door at the remote hunting lodge deep in the Vienna Woods. Inside, he found two bodies sprawled on an ornate bed, blood oozing from their mouths. Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary appeared to have shot his seventeen-year-old mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera as she slept, sat with the corpse for hours and, when dawn broke, turned the pistol on himself.

A century has transformed this bloody scene into romantic tragedy: star-crossed lovers who preferred death together than to be parted by a cold, unfeeling Viennese Court. But Mayerling is also the story of family secrets: incestuous relationships and mental instability; blackmail, venereal disease, and political treason; and a disillusioned, morphine-addicted Crown Prince and a naïve schoolgirl caught up in a dangerous and deadly waltz inside a decaying empire. What happened in that locked room remains one of history’s most evocative mysteries: What led Rudolf and mistress to this desperate act? Was it really a suicide pact? Or did something far more disturbing take place at that remote hunting lodge and result in murder?

Drawing interviews with members of the Habsburg family and archival sources in Vienna, Greg King and Penny Wilson reconstruct this historical mystery, laying out evidence and information long ignored that conclusively refutes the romantic myth and the conspiracy stories.
This was a fantastic read! This reads more like a piece of scandalous historical fiction/mystery rather than history. The characters (who actually existed) are colorful...their actions (which they actually did) are unbelievable...the outcome (which actually happened) is crazy. I was enthralled with the saga of Rudolf and Mary Vetsera from start to finish. It seemed like there were more twists and turns in this story than your average soap opera.

I'm not that "up" on Hapsburg history so the Mayerling incident was completely new to me. I knew that the Hapsburgs had a sordid family tree full of intermarrying (and all the health ramifications that come with that), but Twilight provides a glimpse into just how twisted their family tree truly was. 

This is a "must read" for armchair historians, historical fiction or mystery fans, and anyone in between. The adage "you can't make this stuff up" comes to mind -- a fascinating and unbelievable chapter in the history of the Hapsburg empire.

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The Tunnels by Greg Mitchell

11/5/2017

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Back Cover Blurb:

"In the summer of 1962, one year after the rise of the Berlin Wall, a group of young West Germans decided to risk everything to liberate friends, lovers, and strangers in East Berlin by digging tunnels under the Wall.  Two U.S. television networks, NBC and CBS, raced to be the first to document them from the inside -- even as President John F. Kennedy and Secretary of State Dean Rusk, wary of sparking conflict with the Soviets attempted to prevent the prime-time coverage.  As Greg Mitchell's riveting narrative unfolds, we meet extraordinary characters: the legendary cyclist turned escape artist; the Stasi informer who betrays Daniel Schorr's "CBS tunnel"; the young East Berliner who escapes with her baby, then marries one of the tunnelers.  Capturing the quest for freedom of everyday Berliners, the chilling reach of the secret police, White House intrigue, and a historic media controversy.  The Tunnels is "breaking history," a propulsive read whose themes still reverberate.
The Tunnels is a fascinating glimpse into Cold War history.  I've always been interested in modern history -- especially modern military history.  When I saw the synopsis for The Tunnels I knew I had to read it.  Greg Mitchell addresses a historical (yet timely) episode of the Cold War in examining the varied effects of the Berlin Wall and the actions of the brave men and women who strove to rescue others from oppression.  Mitchell does a great job discussing the historical, political, and social ramifications of the Wall.  Through The Tunnels we also branch out into the larger aspect of the Cold War as Mitchell discusses the domino effect of nuclear war and mutually assured destruction.

Mitchell presents the history in an absorbing way while still focusing on individual people.  The image of one of the women escaping through the tunnels in her designer wedding dress is haunting and poignant.  How better to put a "face" on forgotten history than to give a name and a photo to remind us that real people struggled with these life threatening circumstances.  

The author also brings to light aspects of the Cold War and the Berlin Wall that is not readily taught in schools.  The Cuban Missile Crisis is discussed in school history courses (at least in mine it was), but I had no idea about the CBS or NBC film crews on the scene.  It's always disconcerting to think you know the story...only to find an entire chapter was missing.

I would recommend The Tunnels as an engaging read that brings to light an era of history that is quickly drifting out of the national consciousness.  Mitchell forces us to look at how walls did not work in the past...and won't work in the present. ​

I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review.

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    What I've Read Lately

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