Former Grand Duke Alexander was the brother-in-law and good friend of the last Czar of Russia, Nicholas II. This memoir was written in 1931, two years before his death.
Alexander goes through his life in a very honest and thoughtful way. He reveals his hardships, mistakes and frustrations. I learned more about the conflict going on within Russia itself during the first world war, and I felt sympathy with Alexander for trying to get through to his friend. It had to be frustrating to watch someone he loved so much making decisions that would affect his entire family.
And it did. Alexander lost many members of his family in the massacres of the royal family. It affected his perspective on God, and I can't blame him. He had been taught hatred and distrust of other races from an early age, and he was strong enough to come to his own conclusions about people. And later in life, losing so many people in such a short period of time had to be hard.
I liked this book a great deal. The conversational tone used by Alexander was easy to read. I learned a lot through his narration, and I'm glad I read this book. There are also a fair number of pictures included, and those were great for adding faces to names. Good Book!
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