This is the only authentic autobiography of the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaevna, fourth daughter of the late Emperor Nicholas II and the late Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia.
The Grand Duchess Anastasia furnishes authentic information and many previously unpublished details concerning the life of the Imperial Family and suite from the days of her childhood to the date of the murder of her parents and other members of her Family in Ekaterinburg on the night of July 16-17, 1918.
Her story is divided into six major parts: the youthful years, the period of the First World War, arrest and exile, life in Tobolsk, life in Ekaterinburg, and the period after the tragedy which includes her rescue and escape to Bukovina.
The life of a Grand Duchess of Russia was no downy bed of roses. Discipline was imposed by the Tsar and Tsarina, particularly the latter. Study was an essential duty which took many hours. During the war years there were responsibilities connected with the operation of hospitals for the wounded. Always over the Family hung the fear of the possible demise of the heir to the throne, the young Tsesarevich and Grand Duke Alexei Nicholaevich, who had inherited haemophilia through his Mother.
The Grand Duchess Anastasia rejects vigorously various accusations directed against each of her parents. She explains in her preface the reasons for her long submergence and for her present re-emergence forty-five years after her reported death.
Her style is brisk and invigorating. Her sense of humor repeatedly delights with accounts of lighter events and anecdotes.
This is an invaluable historical record.
