{"product_id":"the-family-romanov-murder-rebellion-and-the-fall-of-imperial-russia-isbn-9780375867828","title":"The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn this “superb history” (\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e), award-winning author Candace Fleming tells the extraordinary true story of Russia’s last royal family—and transports readers back to a time when both a bloodline and an empire came tumbling down.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Has all the elements of a fictional thriller . . . woven into a fascinating work of history.”—\u003ci\u003e The Washington Post \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWINNER: \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e Book Prize for Young Adult Literature and\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBoston Globe–Horn Book \u003c\/i\u003eAward for Nonfiction • A Robert F. Sibert Honor Book •\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003eA YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award Finalist • A \u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e Best Young Adult Book of the Century\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe was \u003cb\u003eTsar Nicholas II\u003c\/b\u003e of Russia: the wealthiest monarch in the world, who ruled over 130 million people and one-sixth of the earth’s land surface, yet turned a blind eye to the abject poverty of his subjects.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe was \u003cb\u003eEmpress Alexandra\u003c\/b\u003e: stern, reclusive, and painfully shy, a deeply religious woman obsessed with the corrupt mystic Rasputin.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTheir daughters were the \u003cb\u003eGrand Duchess Olga, Tatiana, Marie, and Anastasia\u003c\/b\u003e: completely isolated and immature girls who wore identical white dresses and often signed joint letters as OTMA, the initials of their first names.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTheir only son was \u003cb\u003eTsarevich Alexei\u003c\/b\u003e: youngest of the Romanovs, heir to the throne, a hemophiliac whose debilitating illness was kept secret from the rest of the world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCandace Fleming deftly maneuvers between the plight of Russia’s poor masses and the extravagant lives of the Romanovs, from their opulent upbringings to the crumbling of their massive empire, and finally to their tragic murders. Using captivating photos and compelling first-person accounts throughout, \u003ci\u003eThe Family Romanov \u003c\/i\u003eis history at its most absorbing.\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus\u003c\/i\u003e starred review, May 15, 2014:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“A remarkable human story, told with clarity and confidence.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly \u003c\/i\u003estarred review, April 28, 2014:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“A wonderful introduction to this era in Russian history and a great read for those already familiar with it.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist \u003c\/i\u003estarred review, June 1, 2014:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"For readers who regard history as dull, Fleming’s extraordinary book is proof positive that, on the contrary, it is endlessly fascinating, absorbing as any novel, and the stuff of an altogether memorable reading experience.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Horn Book \u003c\/i\u003estarred review, July\/August 2014:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Fleming has outdone herself with this riveting work of narrative nonfiction that appeals to the imagination as much as the intellect.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSchool Library Journal \u003c\/i\u003estarred review, June 2014:\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003c\/b\u003eThis is both a sobering work, and the account of the discovery of their bones and the aftermath is at once fascinating and distressing. A solid resource and good recreational reading for high school students.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books \u003c\/i\u003estarred review, September 2014:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“With comprehensive source notes and bibliographies of print and online materials, this will be a boon to student researchers, but it’s also a heartbreaking page-turner for YAs who prefer their nonfiction to read like a novel.”Candace Fleming is the prolific and highly acclaimed author of numerous books for young adults and children, including the nonfiction titles \u003ci\u003eThe Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary, \u003c\/i\u003ewinner of the \u003ci\u003eBoston Globe–Horn Book\u003c\/i\u003e Award for Nonfiction; \u003ci\u003eAmelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart,\u003c\/i\u003e a \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Notable Children’s Book of the Year; and \u003ci\u003eThe Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P. T. Barnum,\u003c\/i\u003e an ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults. She lives in Oak Park, Illinois. Visit her at candacefleming.com.1881–1895\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The Boy Who Would Be Tsar\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e On a frosty March day in 1881, the boy who would become Russia’s last ruler glimpsed his future. That morning, Nicholas’s grandfather, Tsar Alexander II, was riding through the streets of St. Petersburg when a man stepped off the sidewalk. He hurled a bomb at the imperial carriage. Miraculously, the tsar went uninjured, but many in his retinue were not as lucky. Concerned about his people, Alexander stepped from his carriage. That’s when a second bomb was thrown. This one landed between his feet. An explosion of fire and shrapnel tore away Alexander’s left leg, ripped open his abdomen, and mangled his face. Barely conscious, he managed one last command: “To the palace, to die there.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Horrified members of the imperial family rushed to his side. Thirteen-year-old Nicholas, dressed in a blue sailor suit, followed a thick trail of dark blood up the white marble stairs to his grandfather’s study. There he found Alexander lying on a couch, one eye closed, the other staring blankly at the ceiling. Nicholas’s father, also named Alexander, was already in the room. “My father took me up to the bed,” Nicholas later recalled. “ ‘Papa,’ [my father] said, raising his voice, ‘your ray of sunshine is here.’ I saw the eyelashes tremble. . . . [Grandfather] moved a finger. He could not raise his hands, nor say what he wanted to, but he undoubtedly recognized me.” Deathly pale, Nicholas stood helplessly at the end of the bed as his beloved grandfather took his last breath.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “The emperor is dead,” announced the court physician.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Nicholas’s father--now the new tsar--clenched his fists. The Russian people would pay for this. Alexander II had been a reformer, the most liberal tsar in centuries. He’d freed the serfs (peasant slaves) and modernized the courts. But his murder convinced his son, Alexander III, that the people had been treated too softly. If order was to be maintained, they needed to “feel the whip.” And for the next thirteen years of his reign, Alexander III made sure they did.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Young Nicholas, standing beside his grandfather’s deathbed, knew nothing of politics. Frightened, he covered his face with his hands and sobbed bitterly. He was left, he later confessed, with a “presentiment--a secret conviction . . . that I am destined for terrible trials.”","brand":"Anne Schwartz Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46305167180005,"sku":"NP9780375867828","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780375867828.jpg?v=1767739288","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-family-romanov-murder-rebellion-and-the-fall-of-imperial-russia-isbn-9780375867828","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}