The Escape Of Alexei goes into an incredible amount of detail in many things. It discusses, in detail, the graphic murder of the Romanov family. It has 3 different sources for the burial of the family. This book seems to not leave out a single aspect of the events of the Romanov execution, the chaos that ensued, the mindset of the government, the mindset of the family themselves…until you take a closer look into the story line this group historians and scientists tell. I noticed one view point that was severely lacking, the mindset of the peasants of Russia during this time period- which might be the one of the most important. The authors point out the possibility that Alexei Romanov, heir to the throne, might of in fact escaped the famous execution of his family. They then said that if he indeed escaped, he likely ran off to a nearby village where he could receive treatment for his blood condition, and an unsuspected hideout. The revolutionists that followed through with the murder made their mission and thoughts on the subject clear through documents found after the USSR fell, but the authors did not show us how the peasants felt about the Romanov family. These revolutionists were supposed to be representing the proletariat, yet why, would the small village risk their lives to save a Romanov child? Why would they endanger themselves for a person they supposedly despised? To me, the theory of the authors depends on those villagers, and to not clearly portray their feelings at this point in history is a mistake. I enjoyed how the authors used an incredible amount of documentation to back up their theory. They did not make wild accusations, and simply stuck to the facts that they found. A good example of this is when they provided the documents that discussed the burying of the Romanov family. The executioners included intense detail about what they found on each of the bodies- for the family had jewels sewn into their clothing, and the girls had diamond brassieres on to act as body armor, but they barely mentioned any detail about Alexei’s body, which led the researchers to believe that they didn’t have the body at the time. We know now, that Alexei, did in fact die with the family, and the man who claimed to be Alexei was either a fraud or had a case of dementia. Still, they made a very believable argument for the case of Alexei being alive.
A theme that has been repeated in this story is resilience of humanity. They show Alexei’s extreme bravery when he battled hemophilia as a child, experiencing excruciating pain for long periods of time. They show how strong the Romanov family was as they were being passed to different prisons, not knowing their fate. The family made do with what they were given, and what they could get their hands on. They had jewels sewn into their clothing, and the mother fashioned make-shift body armor out of the diamonds she kept, in case her children were shot at. This book also shows the resilience of Russia itself, as it went through the chaos of revolution, and the severity of Soviet Russia’s government. These people still managed t make a life for their selves, even when situations were dire. The tone of the authors in this book is very stark, not steering away from gruesome facts, but it is also very biased. The Romanov family is often romanticized in today’s society. A prime example of this is Disney’s Anastasia. These authors seem desperate to believe that Alexei did in fact live, perhaps to add more of the romantic and enigmatic feeling back to the story after it was discovered several years ago that Anastasia had died with her family. I respected the closing of the book, which allowed for the possibility of another fate for Alexei, merely stating that their documents and evidence seemed to overwhelmingly agree with their theory. The book’s flow managed to weave together facts and emotions in a graceful manner, and I enjoyed it very much
A theme that has been repeated in this story is resilience of humanity. They show Alexei’s extreme bravery when he battled hemophilia as a child, experiencing excruciating pain for long periods of time. They show how strong the Romanov family was as they were being passed to different prisons, not knowing their fate. The family made do with what they were given, and what they could get their hands on. They had jewels sewn into their clothing, and the mother fashioned make-shift body armor out of the diamonds she kept, in case her children were shot at. This book also shows the resilience of Russia itself, as it went through the chaos of revolution, and the severity of Soviet Russia’s government. These people still managed t make a life for their selves, even when situations were dire. The tone of the authors in this book is very stark, not steering away from gruesome facts, but it is also very biased. The Romanov family is often romanticized in today’s society. A prime example of this is Disney’s Anastasia. These authors seem desperate to believe that Alexei did in fact live, perhaps to add more of the romantic and enigmatic feeling back to the story after it was discovered several years ago that Anastasia had died with her family. I respected the closing of the book, which allowed for the possibility of another fate for Alexei, merely stating that their documents and evidence seemed to overwhelmingly agree with their theory. The book’s flow managed to weave together facts and emotions in a graceful manner, and I enjoyed it very much
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