Helen Rappaport – Four Sisters : The Lost Lives Of The Romanov Grand Duchesses

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Biography, Book Review, Four Sisters: The Lost Lives Of The Romanov Grand Duchesses, Helen Rappaport, Russian Revolution, The Romanovs

Uneasy Lies The Head……………..

Helen Rappaport’s book examines the lives of the four Romanov daughters, Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, from their births to their grisly end in the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg

I was delighted to be offered this as an advance copy for review purposes, and am full of praise for Helen Rappaport’s ability to handle her complex, large cast of characters, often with confusing and similar names (oh those patronymics, and the recycling of various names deemed acceptable for royalty – the Alexandras, Victorias, Nicholases, Alexanders et al doubling and trebling in busy profusion)

It is obvious, reading all the citings,  that Rappaport researches profoundly, but what I really appreciate is her writer’s ability to put what can sometimes be a little dusty into living, breathing fascination.

Giving absolutely short and peremptory shift to all the Anastasia pretenders – citing past and more recent research, this book is not just about the four princesses, but focuses very much also on particularly Alexandra and the relationship between mother and her five children

She recounts a very personal story of what seems to have been a fairly bourgeois, close knit family – except that of course they weren’t because of accidents of birth. Mr and Mrs Romanov might have done quite well as a modest bourgeois couple, but as Tsar and Tsaritsa circumstance and character were explosive combinations.

Olga, Maria, Nicholas II, Alexandra Fyodorovna, Anastasia, Alexei, and Tatiana in 1913

I found myself ever more firmly convinced of the inherent cruelty of monarchy as an institution – to monarchs themselves. To be born with the stifling weight of inherited duty with no get-out – except of course abdication, but if you have been reared and indoctrinated that this is your duty from the start, I would imagine walking away from your destiny would be quite a struggle. Being a ‘good king’ for the demands of the time must be a pretty impossible task. Imperial Russia had had strong autocrats, Nicholas was essentially, at least from the books I have read, a decent family man, but lacked the grit needed to rule. In fact, he and Alexandra tried to raise their children in a more everyday, less imperial way – and they had flack for that from some quarters, and of course flack from other quarters because the family tended to keep themselves to themselves and did not participate in glittering public displays – because of the secret of Alexei’s haemophilia.

I recently read a much older text on the Romanov’s – Robert Massie’s. Rappaport brings a female, sensibility into this, and has delineated the contrast between changing and more enlightened views around female succession in the rest of Europe and America, with the implacable autocracy of male succession, at that time, in Russia.

Rappaport focuses much less on the twists and turns of Russia’s political history than Massie, her aim is to give individuality and identity back to each of the four sisters, who were always rather marginalised by history because succession resided in sons, not daughters. History rather treated them as an interchangeable job lot. Rappaport has breathed posthumous life into them, so the reader senses each of them as a unique being, who had the misfortune to be brutally sacrificed on the alter of a political ideology, some of  whose leaders seemed far less motivated by the heart of egalitarian politics, and far more acting out evidence of their own psychopathology.

Maria, Olga, Anastasia and Tatiana in captivity at Tsarskoe Selo, 1917

I have one cavil with this book – it reinforces how unfit for purpose the digital format is for non-fiction books, particularly source and research heavy.

Admittedly, my review copy was not fully functional, so that chapter notes did not link to their relevant references – but even when this is properly done, it is a much more fiddly and long winded operation to locate the reference as you read, something so easily done with strategically placed bookmarks in a ‘real’ book. Likewise, referring back to the cast of characters with all their many names, at the beginning, was far more challenging than it should have been.

Rappaport also likes using footnotes at the bottom of pages, as well as ‘Harvard’. Personally, I prefer in-text notes like this, rather than at the end of the book, but even this is rendered ridiculous on the Kindle, where one page of a book may be spread over 3 or 4 pages of the reader, so that the footnote inexplicably appears in a disconnected fashion within the text.

My ARC had no photographs. I am assuming that this, and the footnoting and the in-text referencing problems will be addressed in any post-publication eReader version, but still, dear reader, do yourself a favour and buy the physical book, for a more seamless, engaging read!

I like the warmth, dedication and passion Rappaport puts into her book, her communicative style, and the clearly extensive, scholarly research

This book will be published on March 27th

Four Sisters : The Lost Lives Of The Romanov Grand Duchesses Amazon UK
Four Sisters : The Lost Lives Of The Romanov Grand Duchesses Amazon USA

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Robert K. Massie – Nicholas and Alexandra

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Biography, Book Review, First World War, House of Romanov, Nicholas and Alexandra, Robert K. Massie, Russia, Russian Revolution

Everything is always more complex

This is a re-issue of a book originally published in 1967, later made into a film in 1971. Like any book, (indeed like any event) it is of its time, and of the subjectivity of its writer in its time.

Written therefore while the Cold War was still extant, it may show the fact that what we know/knew of Russia at that time will have certain aspects hidden, and also that how America itself perceived Russia will be of a certain aspect. We are all affected by the view from where we are.

Given the title of the book, the focus lies particularly upon the last Romanovs, vilified, at the time from within, just as the revolutionaries were at that time vilified from without. We all have our views to defend.

History and historical analysis must also be partial, as the historian also has a partiality.

What emerges from Massie’s interesting, rather sympathetic account of the Romanovs is a view of history which inevitably focuses on personalities in time.

Nicolas, Alexandra and their children

Massie puts the whole vastness of Russia, its mysticism, its reactionary, god-fearing backwardness in many ways, as well as the cauldron for revolution-in-reaction, under a microscope, but the Romanovs are viewed more closely. His conclusions place the haemophilia of Alexis (knowledge hidden, at the time, from the Russian population at large, who therefore had certain views about Alexandra’s coldness which perhaps may have been interpreted differently) as central to what transpired, since it placed her under the influence of Rasputin, and meant, when Nicolas was focusing on Russia at War, that Ministers were being promoted and sacked with dizzying frequency based purely on the relationship between the Minister and the Starets. He concludes history would have been vastly different without the Heir’s haemophilia. Massie’s own son was also haemophiliac, so the centrality of this may also have been filtered through the writer’s viewpoint. We all filter from where we stand.

There is a view of history which says that if these particular people had not existed at these particular times then the times itself would have thrown up others who fulfilled their exact function or place. Whilst its true that there is a culture which begets us which we, as masses, absorb, so that history can be seen as mass, rather than individual movements, it is also, surely, true that individuals do leave their mark upon history, and shape it, for good or ill.

What I found fascinating was the picking apart of the inevitable drive to the Great War, the shifting alliances which occurred between the European countries which were in part down to the alliances of blood and marriage between European rulers – and how autocracy itself is problematic, (whether the autocrat inherits his autocracy or wrests it by force of will, drive and ideology)

Russian Soldiers, Sarikam Front, World War 1

In Massie’s account the Romanovs were not the monsters painted by the Bolsheviks, who of course had good reason to foster a painting of monstrosity, rather, autocracy itself, whoever is at its head, is problematic. The brutality of the murder of the Romanovs shows a mind-set of ends-justifies-means which continued in the autocracy which came after.

History, (not to mention literature) is littered with examples of:

                                                 I am in blood
Stepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more,
Returning were as tedious as go o’er

This was a rather difficult book to read on Kindle, where (quite common with non-fiction) it becomes less easy to search an index than in a paper book. At least this is the case with my Keyboard Kindle.

Keeping up with the rapid changes of Ministerial power, and the similar struggles by members of the Duma and the holders of power amongst the various revolutionary factions became a little dizzying (as no doubt it was to live through!) Having taken in many ways a personal psychology and personality driven view of history as far as the Romanovs were concerned, I would have liked more of this individuality on ‘the other side’ which might have kept me a little clearer. But I am sure much more information exists about the great and good or not so good than about the apparatchiks of history

Nicholas and Alexandra Amazon UK
Nicholas and Alexandra Amazon USA Kindle Edition

Simon Callow – Charles Dickens and The Great Theatre of The World

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Biography, Book Review, Charles Dickens, Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of The World, Simon Callow

The writer who adored the theatre, by the actor who adores the writer

Simon Callow has written a wonderful biography of Dickens, with a specific focus on Dickens adoration of theatre, and the links between the passionate, flamboyant theatrical heart in his writing, and the man who virtually killed himself by addiction to giving all of that passionate heart to audiences, in the punishing Reading tours he gave, both in this country and in America.

I loved an earlier book by Callow, My Life in Pieces, a collection of his published writings from newspaper columns, and remember particularly being struck by the way he wrote about Dickens, who he has clearly adored for ever. There is a pretty good fit between this larger than life, generously natured actor, and the larger than life, generously natured, and adored, writer, social campaigner and performer of Victorian England. I knew a little about Dickens the man (mainly, the details of his early life and the difficulties later in his marriage and his hidden liaison with Ellen Ternan), but the prodigious nature of his energy, and the extraordinarily wide scale of his talent – not just as novelist, but as editor, journalist, fosterer of younger writers, actor, monologuist/performer, director, producer, republican, radical, social campaigner and philanthropist in his life, not only his art, – has been revelatory. Dickens was adored by his public, transcending class, and was clearly a man who lived many lives in one, burning away with prodigious energy which must have been exhausting to keep up with. Emotionally highly volatile, he had close and loyal friendships with both men and women, although as someone with a keen business sense he also had some rather violent breakings of loyal friendships with his various publishers.

Dickens the Performer of His Works

I was particularly interested in something slightly throwaway which Callow suggested, fairly early on, wondering, if Dickens had lived today, whether the particularly febrile quality of his energy, drive, imagination and passion, which lurked alongside deep despair, might not have led to the suspicion of mild bipolar disorder.

This is an excellently researched and written book, but it is Callow’s warmth,
appreciation and passion for Dickens which takes it out of the academic and ensures Dickens get placed not just in Callow’s heart, but this reader’s. And the life of the man, in Callow’s book, definitely illuminates that man’s art.

Callow as Dickens courtesy of a Time Lord and the Tardis!

I received this initially as an ARC from Amazon Vine UK, and once again was grateful to fellow blogger and Amazon Viner FictionFan for alerting me to this book in the first place. Here’s the link to her review.

Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre Of The World Amazon UK
Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre Of The World Amazon USA

Rebecca Skloot – The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

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Biography, Book Review, Henrietta Lacks, History of Medicine, Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Henrietta Lacks may have saved my life although I never knew her

In 1951 human tissue culture was in its infancy, with researchers struggling to keep cells alive beyond a few cellular generations; normal cells are subject to apoptosis (programmed cellular lifespan/death)

Henrietta Lacks, a poor young black woman, was admitted to hospital in Baltimore in 1951 with an exceptionally invasive and aggressive cancer.

A standard biopsy was taken of her cancerous cells. She did not know that the biopsy would not be used purely for diagnostic purposes, but also tissues would be used for research. No consent was sought for this. In 1951 and indeed still today samples of tissue taken for diagnostic purposes can be used for other purposes – we do not own our tissues once they are no longer part of us.

Cancer cells are not subject to apoptosis. The particular aggressiveness of Henrietta Lacks’ cancer yielded astonishing results for tissue culture, and within a short space of time the `HeLa’ cell line was being used for a wide number of medical research studies world wide, whether testing the actions of many pharmaceutical drugs or as part of the human genome project, and more.

`HeLa’ has had profound, beneficial effects on probably most of us who benefit from modern medicine. HeLa has earned millions of dollars and much prestige for many predominantly white male scientists, as patents have been taken out on advances only possible through tissue culture using the HeLa line

However, Henrietta’s family were unaware of the rich legacy she left the world – or the rich financial legacy reaped by institutions and individuals. In fact, they remained poor and unable to afford healthcare.

Rebecca Skloot has written an angering, compassionate and educative book, looking not only at the science made possible by HeLa – but also exposing the arrogance, hypocrisy and callousness of some individuals and establishments within scientific research. She also tells the story of Henrietta and the Lacks family – indeed, formed strong relationships with that family. Inevitably, given time and place the book is also a shameful expose of how America used its poor in unethical `research’ very little different from the `research’ which Mengele and others were using in concentration camps a decade or so earlier

This book pulls no punches, and may not be for those sensitive to medical issues – there are graphic descriptions of medical procedures and the ravages of terminal illness. It is, however, extraordinary.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Amazon UK
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Amazon USA

Brenda Maddox – Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA

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Biography, Book Review, Brenda Maddox, Francis Crick, James Watson, Rosalind Franklin, Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA

Sometimes it’s hard to be a woman

‘Crick and Watson’ are names drilled into my brain as the discoverers of the DNA double helix. I didn’t know until I read this book that there should have been a third name which I automatically associated with the structure of DNA – Rosalind Franklin.

Brenda Maddox has written, in some ways, a sadly familiar tale. We like to think that ‘science’ is Noble, Pure and Of High Ideals – the great god science may indeed be NP + OHI – however, scientists being mortal men and women (and more often than not, mortal men) are as subject to self-serving, naked ambition, power  hungry greed as the rest of us.

There’s a rush to get your name on the paper, to get the citations – and the desire for this is not just ‘this discovery is for the good of all’, but its good for ME.

The cut and thrust world of scientific fame and glory is particularly difficult, even now, for women.

Maddox uncovers a warts and all portrait of the difficult, often unlikeable, brilliant Franklin. Undoubtedly she lacked charm, she lacked the ability to schmooze, she lacked a graceful character (women of course are particularly ‘supposed’ to be charming, graceful and likeable) The naked ambition which was palpable (and par for the course) in her male colleagues is seen as unacceptable in a woman.

This book is a fascinating – and to a feminist -‘keep those flames of feminism burning’ -book. Maddox writes extremely well about the fascinating scientific journey of discovery, and about the dirty politics. She doesn’t turn Franklin into a latter day saint – but it is also clear that whatever her defects of character, being a brilliant woman, a brilliant Jewish woman, in a boys’ club, would never be an easy ride.

Brenda Maddox

And…………..if you feel tempted to think, ‘but that was a long long time ago’, read a
more recent account of the alpha male wolf pack atmosphere of big business, and the fierce cut and thrust of naked competition for the glory of getting the nobel prize for science in Candace Pert’s Molecules of Emotion: Why You Feel the Way You Feel

Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA, Amazon UK
Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA, Amazon USA

Psiche Hughes – Beryl Bainbridge, Artist, Writer, Friend

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Arts:Crafts:Humanities, Beryl Bainbridge, Beryl Bainbridge: Artist Writer Friend, Biography, Book Review, Psiche Hughes

A darkly playful, vibrant life – and oh, the pictures!,

I was so pleased to get this book, gracefully written.

I must confess it was the artist part of the title, and the promise of the illustrations which captivated me into wanting this book, and hearing it talked about on the radio. Bainbridge’s writing is often blackly comedic, but the pictures are a revelation, a combination of vibrant colour, a blazing kind of naive wonder, delicate etching and unfettered imagination. These are certainly skilful works, but her lack of intense formal training is a plus, not a minus – these works do not seem to belong to some school, or observe some dictate of what is acceptable and what is not, and the almost rustic, homely quality which shines out is joyful and accessible.

Psiche Hughes book is written warmly, an affectionate portrayal of her friend, weaving incidents from her life, the art and the writing together.

The book itself is beautifully presented, any e-version must be disappointing, this is one of those books which makes the reader appreciate the whole experience of looking at, handling, and breathing in a physical book, the quality of the pages, the gloss on the plates, the vibrant gold bookmark.

I really did love this, and it will send me back to re-read Bainbridge’s work, through the life and art connections Hughes explores.

I received it as a review copy through the Amazon Vine Programme UK
Beryl Bainbridge: Artist, Writer Friend Amazon UK
Beryl Bainbridge: Artist, Writer Friend Amazon USA