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Review
Frances Welch's detective work, combined with a deep knowledge of the Romanov's public and private lives, has produced a book that is wonderfully witty and sad by turns.
The grainy photographs, showing everyday life on board the Marlborough, add to the atmosphere of delicious wistfulness. --Mail on Sunday
The kind of history that makes fiction look pallid and pointless --Evening Standard
A gripping account of the departure of the surviving Romanov family from Russian soil aboard HMS Marlborough, complete with warring Archdukes, rolled-up Rembrandts and Fabergé eggs. --The Lady
The grainy photographs, showing everyday life on board the Marlborough, add to the atmosphere of delicious wistfulness. --Mail on Sunday
The kind of history that makes fiction look pallid and pointless --Evening Standard
A gripping account of the departure of the surviving Romanov family from Russian soil aboard HMS Marlborough, complete with warring Archdukes, rolled-up Rembrandts and Fabergé eggs. --The Lady
Product Description
On 11th April 1919, less than a year after the assassination of the Romanovs, the British battleship HMS Marlborough left Yalta carrying 17 members of the Russian Imperial Family into perpetual exile. They included the Tsar's mother, the Dowager Empress Marie, and his sister, the Grand Duchess Xenia, Prince Felix Youssupov, the murderer of Rasputin and a man once mooted as a future leader of Russia, and Grand Duke Nicholas, former Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armies.
As the ship prepared to set sail, a British sloop carrying 170 White Russian soldiers drew up alongside. The soldiers stood on deck and sang the Russian National Anthem. It was the last time the anthem was sung to members of the Imperial Family within Russian territory for over 70 years. The Dowager Empress stood on deck alone. Nobody dared to approach her.
The Russian Court at Sea vividly recreates this unlikely voyage, with its bizarre assortment of warring characters and its priceless cargo of treasures, including rolled-up Rembrandts and Faberge eggs. It is a story, by turns exotic, comic and doomed, of an extraordinary group of people caught up in an extraordinary moment in history when their lives were in every way at sea.
As the ship prepared to set sail, a British sloop carrying 170 White Russian soldiers drew up alongside. The soldiers stood on deck and sang the Russian National Anthem. It was the last time the anthem was sung to members of the Imperial Family within Russian territory for over 70 years. The Dowager Empress stood on deck alone. Nobody dared to approach her.
The Russian Court at Sea vividly recreates this unlikely voyage, with its bizarre assortment of warring characters and its priceless cargo of treasures, including rolled-up Rembrandts and Faberge eggs. It is a story, by turns exotic, comic and doomed, of an extraordinary group of people caught up in an extraordinary moment in history when their lives were in every way at sea.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book tells the story of the mass exodus of some of the Romanov family, members of the Russian court and their retainers, in 1919 from the Crimea. At the insistence of the Queen Alexandra the HMS Marlborough and a flotilla of British ships were sent to evacuate her sister, the Empress Marie, aka Dagmar. The Marlborough sailed from Yalta to Prince's Island outside of Constantinople, then to Malta.
The story of the Marlborough is one of the few Romanov stories which has a happy ending. If you are a hard core Romanovophile you will know the story and doubtless own Pridham's Close of a Dynasty on which this book relies heavily. So is it worth buying and reading? An emphatic yes. Not only are Pridham and Ingham long out of print but Welch has updated the story using more recently published texts, including Prince Roman's autobiography, Preben Ulstrup's fabulous book, and the Flight of the Romanovs. She adds to our knowledge of divisions within the greater Romanov family and provides insight into domestic life.
More than that, Welch is a good and conscientious writer (if a bit journalistic) who has undertaken her own research. She has consulted newspapers, unpublished memoirs and diaries, other archival material and she has conducted a number of interviews. Unfortunately her research draws attention to one of the major weaknesses of the book. As per her 2 earlier forays into the Romanov family there is not a reference or a footnote in sight. And bless her she doesn't feel the need to address this lack. There is also no index.
If you're hard core you'll probably be able to identify most of the sources but I have to say several had me stymied. Where for example do we find the underground newspaper produced at Ai Todor, the Merry Arnold? What is the source for Miss Henton's (the nanny) newspaper interview about house arrest at Ai Todor? Has Welch misquoted Radzinsky's translation Irina's letter to Felix Yussopov junior or is she using another source for that letter?
There are several points presented as fact which I think are open to dispute. And surely there is another adjective apart from `jolly' that could have been used in the 6 references to Princess Marina's appearance.
Welch has had Marie's diaries translated from the Danish which is a real bonus. She has translated sections of Prince Roman's autobiography from the German. However she doesn't translate some passages from the French into English, for example, Nikolosha's dinner speech. Presumably if you're properly educated you can read it in the original. A little pretentious in this day and age: un peu, peut-être?
According to Welch the book is dependent on its photographs. Unfortunately they are a real disappointment. They are small, cheaply and poorly reproduced. They are also completely unsourced although several of them look like they have been taken straight out of Pridham.
As a final comment, if you are indeed hard core, get yourself a copy of Ulstrop's Empress Dagmar's Captivity in the Crimea. Diaries and Letters 1917-19. Sure it's in Danish, sure it's expensive, but you will get the BEST photos: the people, but especially the estates in the Crimea, that are available in any publication.
The story of the Marlborough is one of the few Romanov stories which has a happy ending. If you are a hard core Romanovophile you will know the story and doubtless own Pridham's Close of a Dynasty on which this book relies heavily. So is it worth buying and reading? An emphatic yes. Not only are Pridham and Ingham long out of print but Welch has updated the story using more recently published texts, including Prince Roman's autobiography, Preben Ulstrup's fabulous book, and the Flight of the Romanovs. She adds to our knowledge of divisions within the greater Romanov family and provides insight into domestic life.
More than that, Welch is a good and conscientious writer (if a bit journalistic) who has undertaken her own research. She has consulted newspapers, unpublished memoirs and diaries, other archival material and she has conducted a number of interviews. Unfortunately her research draws attention to one of the major weaknesses of the book. As per her 2 earlier forays into the Romanov family there is not a reference or a footnote in sight. And bless her she doesn't feel the need to address this lack. There is also no index.
If you're hard core you'll probably be able to identify most of the sources but I have to say several had me stymied. Where for example do we find the underground newspaper produced at Ai Todor, the Merry Arnold? What is the source for Miss Henton's (the nanny) newspaper interview about house arrest at Ai Todor? Has Welch misquoted Radzinsky's translation Irina's letter to Felix Yussopov junior or is she using another source for that letter?
There are several points presented as fact which I think are open to dispute. And surely there is another adjective apart from `jolly' that could have been used in the 6 references to Princess Marina's appearance.
Welch has had Marie's diaries translated from the Danish which is a real bonus. She has translated sections of Prince Roman's autobiography from the German. However she doesn't translate some passages from the French into English, for example, Nikolosha's dinner speech. Presumably if you're properly educated you can read it in the original. A little pretentious in this day and age: un peu, peut-être?
According to Welch the book is dependent on its photographs. Unfortunately they are a real disappointment. They are small, cheaply and poorly reproduced. They are also completely unsourced although several of them look like they have been taken straight out of Pridham.
As a final comment, if you are indeed hard core, get yourself a copy of Ulstrop's Empress Dagmar's Captivity in the Crimea. Diaries and Letters 1917-19. Sure it's in Danish, sure it's expensive, but you will get the BEST photos: the people, but especially the estates in the Crimea, that are available in any publication.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book was a joy to read if you're interested in Russian Royal History. It was very insightful reading about the day to day journey of the historic trip of the British ship HMS Marlborough during the escape & rescue from Russia of the many Russian royals & their staff during the Russian Revolution.It was also wonderful reading about the various interactions between the Royal passengers as well as between the passengers and the staff of the ship. It goes on even further to inform the reader of the aftermath of the lives of everyone involved in this famous journey. Highly recommend!
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Thought it was excellent, a fascinating insight into the lives of the surviving members of a decimated former imperial family. Sailing away from Russia to an uncertain future exile. Yet even though they'd escaped with their lives, still harbouring their familial old rivalries etc. Well worth a read I thought. Wish there could have been a little bit more on their subsequent lives, rather than the brief synopsis given.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
All at sea with the Romanov's
A fascinating insight into an almost forgotten bit of history. We know that some of Romanov's escaped after being under House arrest, how did they escape? Read more
Published 7 months ago by M. Duffy
From style to exile
This is a great little book, very well put together, the deatil of information is great from start to finish. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Goodlaugh
Dames (and Dukes) at Sea
This is a great read but could do better, as my school reports used to say.
I began at the beginning, with the Dramatis Personae. Read more
I began at the beginning, with the Dramatis Personae. Read more
Published 9 months ago by P. Bentley
Russian Court at Sea
Very interesting follow up of what happened to some of the remaining Russian family. A lot had been written about Rasputin and the demise of the Romanovs, so it is interesting to... Read more
Published 9 months ago by B. Hewson
Imperial guests
The final days in Russia & beyond of the last members of the Russian Imperial court. A very well written and interesting look at the diverse people and factions that made up this... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Graeme Wheeler
A good read for anyone interesting in the Romanovs!
This really is quite a good read. Its major drawbacks are a lack of referencing and an index. Surely these are not too difficult for a writer such as Welch to achieve? Read more
Published 15 months ago by romano
A fascinating micro-history of a voyage into exile
It is well known that the Romanov dynasty in Imperial Russia came to a sad end. After the February revolution of 1917, Tsar Nicholas II and his family were placed under house... Read more
Published 16 months ago by A Common Reader
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