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The Race to Save the Romanovs

The Race to Save the Romanovs

The Truth Behind the Secret Plans to Rescue Russia's Imperial Family

Summary

Shortlisted for the HWA Sharpe Books Non-Fiction Crown Award

A work of
investigative history that will completely change the way in which we see the Romanov story. Finally, here is the truth about the secret plans to rescue Russia’s last imperial family.

On 17 July 1918, the whole of the Russian Imperial Family was murdered. There were no miraculous escapes. The former Tsar Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, and their children – Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexey – were all tragically gunned down in a blaze of bullets.

Historian Helen Rappaport sets out to uncover why the Romanovs’ European royal relatives and the Allied governments failed to save them. It was not, ever, a simple case of one British King’s loss of nerve. In this race against time, many other nations and individuals were facing political and personal challenges of the highest order.

In this incredible detective story, Rappaport draws on an unprecedented range of unseen sources, tracking down missing documents, destroyed papers and covert plots to liberate the family by land, sea and even sky. Through countless twists and turns, this revelatory work unpicks many false claims and conspiracies, revealing the fiercest loyalty, bitter rivalries and devastating betrayals as the Romanovs, imprisoned, awaited their fate.

A remarkable new work of history from Helen Rappaport, author of Ekaterinburg: The Last Days of the Romanovs.

Reviews

  • I read The Race to Save the Romanovs in more or less in a single sitting. It’s absolutely marvellous – packed with details, beautifully paced and told me lots of things I didn’t know.
    PETER FRANKOPAN

About the author

Helen Rappaport

Helen Rappaport is a historian with a specialism in late Imperial Russia and the Victorians. She is the author of thirteen published books, including the Sunday Times bestseller Four Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Romanov Grand Duchesses; Ekaterinburg: The Last Days of the Romanovs and Caught in the Revolution: Petrograd, 1917. Helen is also historical consultant to the ITV drama series, Victoria and her books about the Victorians include Magnificent Obsession: Victoria, Albert and the Death that Changed the Monarchy.
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