Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess, Russia, 1914 Paperback – October 29, 2013

SCHOOL, FOR SOME, HAS ALWAYS BEEN A CHORE. HISTORY CAN seem dry anddull. Many children will ask: "What do these stories have to do withNOW...TODAY? And royalty???? The USA is supposed to be a democracy, isn't it?"This series, from Scolastic Press, can change children's minds around!Focusing on female members of royalty -- from all eras, from Cleopatrato Anastasia, (The Last Grand Duchess) -- these books show these always historic, sometimes triumphant, and sometimes tragic royal ladies asprecisely what they were -- real human beings, with faults, and virtues, just like the readers of these books!Every book has a glorious colour cover, depicting a very realistic, and character-evoking portrait of the Royal person whose "diary" the book purports to show. Obviously, these are not actual diaries, but an acute and realistic novelization of what such a "diary" could have been like.(In some of the other volumes, in fact, this fact is printed on one of the beginning pages.) But in all the books, the "giveaway" that thisis actually the novelized, (or novella-ized) work of author, is given by the "by......." followed by the author's name, either on the cover, or on the inside title page.The volume I now possess is: "Anastasia, The Last Grand Duchess", byCarolyn Meyer. Ms. Meyer does an admirable job of describing the splendour of the Russian Court, as seen by the Czar's youngest daughter, Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaievna Romanov. Starting with observations about a ball, continuing with a wedding, a trip on the Royal Yacht, ((actual HOME-MOVIES of which, can be seen on YouTube to this day!)), descriptions of famous and not so famous people and events, all from the viewpoint of this very perceptive 13-17 year old, are desried in one or a few paragraphs, all diary-like. One really does get "inside the head" of the fictionalized Anastasia Romanov, reading this book. Plus -- it's an excellent book for those who, having watched TV all their lives, find their attention-span decimated by having commercials breaking up the story, every 15 minutes or so. In this book --and, I suspect, in all the other "diaries", as well -- these "bite size", diary-entries make for easy, (and exciting!) reading!The "diary" ends, as the Royal Family leave their next-to-last place of imprisonment, to go to their (unknowingly) last imprisonment home, in Ekatrinaberg, Siberia. At the end of the "Diary" section, there is an "Epilog", stating in detail what happened to Anastasia and the rest of the Imperial family, after the end of the diary. There follows a short, but very detailed "Historical Note", describing in easily understood language, the heart-wrenching facts that led up to the Imperial Family's murders. A family tree -- starting with Alexander III, and Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hess, and their spouses, (Anastasia's grandparents), and their generation and offspring, through several generations, (including the most recent death -- in 1979! -- of a not-so-distant cousin, Lord Mountbattan of Burma, (also, strangely, killed by an assassin), ends with DIRECT descndnts of Alexander III and Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hess -- the Czar's five children, all born in different years, but all, tragically, dying in 1918. (The youngest, Czarivich Alexei, was only 14 years old when he died.)Folling the Family Tree is are brief descriptions of the principle people on this tree. From this, we learn that Anastasia was her grandmother's favourite grandchild, and that her elder sister, Grand Duchess Tatiana, was her mother's favourite companion.Following this is a nice selection of 20 photographs, showing not only the Imperial Family, but the palaces -- and Siberian prison -- where they lived. A picture of Rasputin, ((hisssss!)), a St. Petersberg street scene, an Imperial Easter Egg, and the Royal Yacht, 'Standart', are also shown....as well as the July, 1998 ceremony, re-buring the remains of the Russian Imperial Famly, attended by Boris Yeltson, and his wife.....A 1-page explaination of the Russian Language, and a two-page explaination of the Russian Julian Calendar, and how it is different from, and co-existed with, the Gregorian Calendar, used in most of the Western world, is also given.There follows a 4 page listing, with one or two line descriptions, of every historical personage mentioned in the "diary" -- including "Jim", one of two American black men, who had jobs as door-keepers of the Czar!The life of the author, Carolyn Meyer, is described on the next two pages. Acknowledgements for the cover painting, (a truly regal, yet tellingly personal portrait of Anastasia), by Tim O'Brien, and for the sources of the photographs, previously mentioned, follows. A page listing the other books in the Royal Diaries series, (only 5, when my copy was printed....but now, happily added to!), follows, and on the last page, copyright, abd deducatu("For Patricia Clark Smith"), information is given -- along with the caveat: "While Royal Diaries are based on real royal figures, and actual historical events, some situations and people in this book are fictional, created by the author."Happily, also -- as in the best old books -- a description of the typefaces used is also given: 'Longfellow' for display type, and 'Augereau' for the text. (('Fontaholics', such as myself, truly appreciate this information being given!)) The book has beautiful, patterned endpapers, and what must be a gold-foil simulation of the real gold, used on many diaries in the past...and even a few, right now. The binding is VERY good -- and is the very best I have ever seen, outside of really old and/or expensive books, which are sewn by hand in signatures, which costs of producing this book at its modest price, obviously prohibited. But -- a very, very good binding, nonetheless!I suspect that the "Royal Diary" series was inspired by both the Walt Disney "The Princess Diary" movie series, (and the books that inspired them), and, perhaps, also "The Diary of Anne Frank". A diary is always intriguing, after all, no matter who has written it. And a diary written by a Royal personage, perhaps even more so. Anyone who can learn a great deal by finishing this easily read, omtriguing, totally involving book.On the "FrozenTears.com" website, which is devoted to the Romanovs and their senseless killing, one lady -- obviously a cousin to the murdered Romanovs -- has written, simply and eloquently: "I wish I had known my family". In this book, we come not just to know the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaievna Romanov -- but every person with whom she came into contact, during her brief life. How sad that we can know the Romanovs, now, only though books, photographs, and a few historic films. As I have commented on YouTube, "If, someday, someone invents a Time-Machine, please go back to 1900 and warn the Romanovs!" In the meantime, we are fortunate to have the photographs, the historic film clips -- and books such as this one, which bring the last Imperial Russian Family, (last, that is, as of this writing!), vividly, realistically, and poignantly, to life!

The book arrived on time and was wrapped securely. Covers and pages look brand new. Slightly bent in the center like it's been in storage for a good while but other then that great price for an amazing book. These types of books are great for history lovers.

I bought this book and the rest of the set for my nieces. My mom grew up with these books and in her stead I ordered this entire set. These stories are all about women roll models and strong women through history. I would definitely recommend the stories. As for the condition…the book was not in the greatest condition. It had obviously been loved and most likely in a child’s library. All in all these are great stories and I would definitely recommend them!!!!

I read this book because I’m writing a novel that features Anastasia. This book is easy to read and gives us an intimate look into the life of the young grand duchess. I recommend this for anyone interested in Russian history or revolutions in general.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It shows a royal's life that isn't spoiled rotten. Anastasia would much rather be doing things outdoors than be at fancy balls. I was really interested in the subject when a friend gave it to me. It was nice to hear about her day to day life. When I researched her, all I could really find was little scraps about her childhood and her tragic death. I like how it shows the hope the family has to the end. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject of the last Royal Russian family. I would say anyone looking for a everybody lived happily ever story should not read this book. It gives a good story, but her life was short and her death was sad. Also unless you want gruesome details, I would not read deep into how she died outside of this book. In all it told me more about the life of a mysterious character in history and gave her more personality than a royal who was thought to have escaped for a long time.

I liked that this was a”window “ into the mind of the real Anastasia.

My 9 year old daughter has an obsession with Imperial Russia. Anastasia is someone she could research for hours and not become bored. This book provided a bit of historical information from the unique perspective of the young girl who was living it. While it is a fictional book, it is based on true events, and provides a perspective that a child can easily relate to.

It's okay for a journal, but not nearly as detailed as I would've expected. Anne Frank was about the same age as Anastasia and her journal is much better written and translated. As someone who is interested in history I found the extra material very fascinating except for you couldn't read it as it's all in Old English writing and I can't seem to enlarge it so I can actually read it

アナスタシア本人が書いたものではなく、日記形式で物語が進められてるだけのようです。最初は本人が書いたものだと思い込んでたので、ちょっと残念。でも、史実に忠実だし、これはこれで、面白いです。子供向けの本なので、英語も簡単だから、訳し易いです。

Made me laugh in places very nice book

An ok read

Dieses Buch ist das Kindheitsbuch meiner Verlobten. Ich habe für sie gekauft und sie hat es geliebt! Also gutes Paket und tolle Buchqualität. Die goldenen Details auf den Seiten sind großartig! Wir denken darüber nach, die anderen Serienbücher jetzt zu kaufen. Ein Minuspunkt: Die Lieferung erfolgt etwas spät, ist aber zu diesen Corona-Zeiten akzeptabel.

Bought at read with my daughter but really loved reading these when I was in Junior high so I thought that they would be worth the money to buy now that I have kids of my own.