Nicholas II

NEW BOOK – Tsar Nicholas II by Alexei G. Elchaninov

REVISED and UPDATED 2026 EDITION

*You can order this title from most AMAZON outlets, including
the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia,
France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Sweden,
Brazil, Mexico and Japan
*Note: prices are quoted in local currencies

CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE HARD COVER EDITION @ $25.00 USD

CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE PAPERBACK EDITION @ $20.00 USD

English. 8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″ format. 216 pages with 30 photos

This authorized account of Emperor Nicholas II by Major-General Andrei Georgievich Elchaninov (1868-1918), is an unprecedented biography of a living tsar. It was originally published in 1913, to coincide with the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. The author served as a professor of military art in the General Staff Academy in St. Petersburg, he later served in the suite of Tsar Nicholas II.

Nicholas II reviewed and corrected the proofs himself in January 1913. He made changes to the text, and requested the removal of sentences describing the Tsesarevich Alexei’s illness.

Elchaninov gathered considerable material for the twelve chapters about Nicholas II’s personal life based on observations and impressions. The first chapters describe Russia’s last Tsar as a caring, devoted and loving husband and father. The remaining chapters focus on his relationship with his government, the church, the army, the Russian people, and the policies which he pursued during the first 18 years of his reign.

Written before the First World War and the 1917 Revolution. Elchaninov writes in glowing patriotic language portraying Nicholas II as an indefatigable “Imperial worker” in the service of Russia’s best interests and the “Sovereign father” of the Russian people.

The cover of the book features a handsome portrait of Emperor Nicholas II. 1903. Artist: Friedrich August von Kaulbach (1850-1920)

In addition to Elchaninov’s biography on the Tsar, this NEW 2026 edition includes an expanded introduction and a short biography of Andrei Elchaninov + 5 appendixes: Chronology of Events in the Life and Reign of Nicholas II; 100 Facts and Statistics During the Reign of Nicholas II (1894-1917); Bibliography of 100+ English-language Titles on Nicholas II; Nicholas II’s Diaries and Nicholas II’s Personal Libraries + 30 black and white photos!

This book is an excellent resource tool for any one interested
in the life and reign of Russia’s much slandered last Tsar!

***

Andrei Georgievich Elchaninov (1868-1918)

Very little is known about the life of Andrei Georgievich Elchaninov (1868-1918), the man who held the title of Emperor Nicholas II’s official biographer. Born just one month apart in 1868, the Tsar and Elchaninov were the same age – 50, when they both fell victims to the Bolsheviks in 1918.

Subscribe to my bi-weekly Nicholas II news updates . . . it’s FREE!

Posted on 22 Hours Ago by Paul Gilbert

NOTE: my next news update will be e-mailed on 15th September 2026

World premiere of “The Romanovs: Devotion and Betrayal” held in St. Petersburg

Posted on 5 Days Ago by Paul Gilbert

PHOTO: the producer and cast at the City Lights International
Film Festival, held in St. Petersburg on 29th August 2026

On 29th August 2026, the world premiere of the new historical drama film “The Romanovs: Devotion and Betrayal” took place at the the City Lights International Film Festival in St. Petersburg.

The screening of the film gathered about a thousand spectators. Due to the high interest in the film, the organizers had to hold an additional screening of the highly anticpated film.

Recall that the Russian-language historical drama sheds light on the role of foreign intelligence services and the betrayal of the Tsar’s inner circle, including Nicholas II’s own relatives and generals.

The premieres of “The Romanovs: Devotion and Betrayal” will be held next month in cities across the Russian Federation: on 21st September at Mosfilm in Moscow, on 22nd September in Tobolsk, on 23rd September in Tyumen, on 24th September in Ekaterinburg, on 25th September in Perm, and on 26th September in Surgut.

PHOTO: this very moving still from the film depicts Emperor Nicholas II with his son and heir Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich. We see a loving father having a heart to heart with his son. The scene was filmed in the Tsar’s New Study in the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo.

Film producer Oleg Urushev said that he believes that half of the potential viewers of the historical drama The Romanovs. Devotion and Betrayal will attend the premiere “infected with Bolshevik historiography.”

During the past year, the filming and production of the historical drama has received wide-spread media attention and ignited a flurry of discussion on social media and in Russia, in which more than 500 thousand people have already taking part.

Urushev believes that more than half of the potential audience will view his film with the already negative assessment of Russia’s last Tsar, “which is of course based on Bolshevik historiography, according to which Nicholas II was bloody, and the Bolsheviks themselves, of course, are wonderful,” notes the producer.

“Although, to be honest, the bloodiest period in the history of Russia was the Bolshevik period. Under Nicholas II, our country was number one in wheat production, and five years later the Bolsheviks were able to create a famine and starve the country,” he said during a panel discussion, as part of the film festival.

Urushev is hopeful that his film will change the negative held opinions of those who attend the premieres across Russia with a more honest assessment of Russia’s much slandered Tsar.

URTHER READING

‘The Romanovs: Devotion and Betrayal’ – Trailer (2026)

The first trailer for the historical drama “The Romanovs: Devotion and Betrayal” has been released. The Russian-language film sheds light on the role of foreign intelligence services and the betrayal of the Tsar’s inner circle, including Nicholas II’s own relatives and generals.

New monument to Nicholas II unveiled in Mariinsk

Posted on 6 Days Ago by Paul Gilbert

On 27th August 2026, a new bust-monument to Emperor Nicholas II was unveiled and consecrated on the grounds of the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in the Russian city of Mariinsk, Kemerovo Region, located in the south of Western Siberia.

The unveiling ceremony was led by Metropolitan Aristarkh of Kemerovo and Prokopyevsk, head of the Kuzbass Metropolia. Before the consecration of the monument, Metropolitan Aristarchus addressed those present with an archpastoral sermon, in which he noted the contribution of Nicholas II to the history of the Fatherland.

Following the of the bust-monument to the Holy Passion-Bearer Nicholas II, Metropolitan Aristarkh then performed the rite of consecration in the presence of members of the clergy and local diocese, parishioners and local residents.

The event was attended by Russian statesman, lawyer, TV presenter and writer Pavel Astakhov, Evgeny Sergeevich Ivanov, Chairman of the Committee for Cooperation with Religious Organizations of the Administration of the Government of Kuzbass, as well as Alexei Sergeevich Yakovlev, Deputy Head of the City of Kemerovo and Head of the Territorial Administration of the Leninsky District. The bishop opened the sculpture.nstalled in Mariinsk.

The bust of Russia’s last Tsar was installed as part of the “Alley of Russian Glory Project”. The project is aimed at perpetuating the memory of famous Russians who glorified the Fatherland, as well as reviving the patriotic spirit of the country’s citizens and educating the younger generation on glorious heroic traditions. In 2026, similar monuments appeared in Tomsk, Zarechny and Tver with the support of the SPAS television network.

The installation of the monment in Mariinsk is the 13th monument of Russia’s last Tsar, to be installed in Russia this year. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, more than 125 monuments, busts and memorial plaques have been installed in nearly 50 regions of the Russian Federation.

Sakhalin Communists want monument to Nicholas II replaced with monument to Joseph Stalin

Posted on 7 Days Ago by Paul Gilbert

PHOTO: Emperor Nicholas II and Joseph Stalin

The Sakhalin regional branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation have demanded the removal of a monument to Emperor Nicholas II, which was recently installed in the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and replacing it with a monument to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

Recall that a bust-monument to the Holy Passion-Bearer Nicholas II was unveiled and consecrated on 23rd August 2026, on the grounds of the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ, situated on Victory Square inYuzhno-Sakhalinsk (from 1882 to 1905 – Vladimirovka, from 1905-1946 – Toyohara (from Japanese), situated on Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East.

The Communists consider it inappropriate to place a monument to Russia’s last Tsar, since it was during the reign of Nicholas II that Russia was defeated in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 and handed over the southern part of Sakhalin to Japan.

The Sakhalin regional branch of the Communist Party also recalled that shortly before the opening of the monument, Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi again announced territorial claims against Russia. Therefore, the installation of the monument to Nicholas II can be perceived as a political signal and used by Japanese propaganda, party members believe.

PHOTO: local communists want to replace this
monument to Nicholas II with one of Joseph Stalin

As an alternative to the monument to the emperor, the Communists put forward a proposal to erect a monument to Joseph Stalin on the same square, thanks to whom South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands returned to the USSR in 1945. The proposal was sent to Sakhalin Governor Valery Limarenko, regional prosecutor Vladimir Shaibekov, deputies of the regional Duma, Chairman of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The communists proposal caused a wide public outcry. Many citizens support the proposal, believing that the memory of Stalin should be immortalized in historically significant places. Others, however, expressed their concerns about the need to erect a monument to persons associated with political repressions and terror, which affected tens of millions of people during the Bolshevik and later Soviet years.

One has to wonder if the Sakhalin Communists asked themselves – “why” would an Orthodox Church, want a monument to Stalin, the Soviet leader who declared war on the Church, ordering the demolition and closure of thousands of Orthodox churches, cathedrals and monasteries and the execution and imprisonment of thousands of priests, monks and nuns?

New monument to Nicholas II unveiled in the Tuva region

Posted on 8 Days Ago by Paul Gilbert

On 25th August 2026, a new bust-monument to Emperor Nicholas II was unveiled and consecrated on the grounds of the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in the Russian city of Kyzyl [formerly Belotsarsk] , the capital of the Republic of Tuva, which lies at the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia.

The installation of the monument is timed to coincide with two important dates: the 15th anniversary of the formation of the Kyzyl diocese and the Year of Unity of the Peoples of Russia.

The bust was donated to the residents of the Republic of Tuva by the he public federal Orthodox TV channel “SPAS”.

“The monument to the Holy Passion-Bearer Nicholas II, has become a new heavenly patron for Tuva, a historical intercessor close in time, glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church,” said Hieromonk of the Kyzyl Diocese Ambrose (Gromov).

Among the guests of honour, the event was attended by the head of the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan Yuri Ananin, the director of the Agency for Nationalities of the Republic of Tatarstan Svetlana Oshchepkova and Boris Korchevnikov, general director of the SPAS TV channel.

The installation of this monument is an important reminder of Emperor Nicholas II, by whose decree Tuva came under the protectorate of the Russian Empire in 1914.

The event attracted many local parishioners and pilgrims. At the end of the consecration ceremony, everyone was invited to visit the photo exhibition “The Romanovs – Tsar’s Service” which officially opened in the lower level of the cathedral.

The above photo depicts the bust of Emperor Nicholas II, before it was installed atop the granite pedestal, it provides us with a close-up view of the detail of the Emperor’s face, his uniform and numerous orders and medals.

The installation of the monment in Kyzyl is the 12th monument of Russia’s last Tsar, to be installed in Russia this year. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, more than 125 monuments, busts and memorial plaques have been installed in nearly 50 regions of the Russian Federation.

Nicholas II and his family “come to life” in iconic 1913 photograph

Posted on 9 Days Ago by Paul Gilbert

CLICK on the IMAGE or START BUTTON to WATCH. ENJOY!

To share this page, just click and paste the URL at the top of this page.

Some very clever and talented person in Russia, has brought Emperor Nicholas II and his family “to life,” from an iconic 1913 photograph using Artificial Inteligence (AI). The result is nothing short of remarkable!!

This iconic photograph is one of a series taken in 1913 marking the 300th anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty. These were mass produced and sold as postcards, the proceeds of which went to various charities supported by the Imperial Family.

The 40-second video clip first “brings Nicholas II to life” – the likeness is truly haunting! We then see his four daughters, the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia getting ready for the photoshoot. The Tsar is next seen with his son and heir Tsesarevich and Grand Duke Alexei Nikolaevich.

As the photographer gets his camera ready, the Imperial Family enter and assemble around three chairs. The Emperor and Empress are seated in the center, their children around them. Anastasia is seated next to her father, while Maria sits next to her mother. Olga and Tatiana stand behind their parents. Alexei sits on the floor, his hands wrapped around his father’s boot. Tatiana whispers something into Olga’s ear, they giggle, only to be hushed by their mother. Nicholas II smiles. The whole scene is absolutely charming!

The camera clicks, the photographer has immortalized this beautiful family for posterity.

New monument to Nicholas II unveiled on Sakhalin Island

Posted on 10 Days Ago by Paul Gilbert

On 23rd August 2026, a new bust-monument of Emperor Nicholas II was unveiled and consecrated on the grounds of of the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ on the island of Sakhalin in the Russian Far East.

The rite of consecration was performed by Archbishop Nikanor of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and the Kuril Islands.

The service was attended by Senator of the Russian Federation, representative in the Federation Council from the Sakhalin Regional Duma Andrei Khapochkin, members of the diocese, parishoners and local residents.

In his speech, the archpastor stressed that this event is unique, since this monument became the first monument in the history of Sakhalin to the Russian emperor – the only tsar from the Romanov dynasty who was canonized.

His Eminence also thanked Boris Korchevnikov, General Director of the Spas TV channel, and Pavel Astakhov, a Russian statesman and writer, who made it possible to implement this project in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

The installation of the monment in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is the 11th monument of Russia’s last Tsar, to be installed in Russia this year. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, more than 125 monuments, busts and memorial plaques have been installed in nearly 50 regions of the Russian Federation.

The Romanovs: Devotion and Betrayal – Trailer (2026)

Posted on 14 Days Ago by Paul Gilbert

The first trailer for the historical drama “The Romanovs: Devotion and Betrayal” has been released. The Russian-language film focuses on the last years of the life of Emperor Nicholas II and his family, and the collapse of the monarchy. The film is based on a book of the same name by Sergei Kozlov. The film will be released in Russia on 24th September 2026.

The plot covers the period from the beginning of the First World War (August 1914) to the tragic death of the last Russian Tsar and his family in Ekaterinburg on 17th July 1918. In their work, the authors relied on archives that sheds light on the role of foreign intelligence services and the betrayal of the Tsar’s inner circle, including Nicholas II’s own relatives and generals.

“This is an invitation to live with the protagonists during the last years of a great empire, to share their aspirations, horror and catastrophe,” said Producer Konstantin Ernst. “It is not a lost page of the past, but an eternal story about how the world begins to collapse, when betrayal becomes the norm, and loyalty goes out of fashion.”

NOTE: for English (or other languages) subtitles, click on the Closed Captioning [CC] button, and use Google Translator and select language of choice. Duration: 1 minute

The director is Vasily Chiginsky. The role of Nicholas II is played by Vitaly Kishchenko (b. 1964), and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna was played by Ksenia Kutepova (b .1971). Other actors include Denis Propalov, Ivan Kolesnikov (“Peter I: The Last Tsar and The First Emperor“), Ekaterina Guseva (“Anna Karenina. Musical“) and Dmitry Dyuzhev (“Brigade“), who plays the role of Grigory Rasputin. The script is based on the book by Russian author Sergei Kozlov. To ensure historical accuracy, archivists, historians and members of the clergy were consulted – something which, British and American documentaries and film makers seldom do!

Filming of “The Romanovs: Devotion and Betrayal” took place in St. Petersburg, Perm and Tobolsk. The key location was the Ipatiev House, where the Imperial Family and their four faithful retainers spent the last 78 days of their lives. Since the original building in Ekaterinburg was demolished in 1977, researchers, artists and set designers recreated it from scratch, using archival plans and photographs to accurately match the Ipatiev Houses’ original interiors.

New monument to Nicholas II and his family unveiled in the Surgut district

Posted on 15 Days Ago by Paul Gilbert

On 19th August 2026, a new monument to Emperor Nicholas II and his family was unveiled and consecrated on the grounds of the Church of of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, situated in the village of Bely Yar, Surgut district.

The opening of the monument is timed to the 135 years ago, the heir to the throne visited Ugra.during a trip across the Russian Empire following his Eastern Journey (1890-91).

Historical documents in the district archives note: “On 21st (O.S. 8th) July, 1891, at 5 o’clock in the evening, the heir to the throne, Tsesarevich and Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandrovich [future Emperor Nicholas II], arrived at the Beloyarsk wharf, which is seven versts from Surgut, on the steamer “Nikolai“.

The 3-meter bronze sculptural composition was created by a group of Moscow sculptors. The consecration of the monument of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers was performed by Metropolitan Pavel of Khanty-Mansiysk and Surgut.

The opening and consecration ceremony was attended by the Governor of Ugra Ruslan Kukharuk, co-founder of the Sibpromstroy group of companies Nikolai Storozhuk, as well as local politicians of the Surgut district.

“The opening and consecration of the monument is one of the most important moments in the construction of the temple complex,” the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Surgut reported. “The monument is designed to remind us of love for the Motherland and the desire for a pious life. The Royal Passion-Bearers – Nicholas II, Alexandra Feodorovna and their children – became a symbol of family fidelity and spiritual fortitude. Their canonization [on 20th August 2000] tells us about the importance of mercy, humility and trust in God even in the most difficult trials.”

Construction of the Church of of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God began in the 2010s. The domes and crosses on the building were installed at the end of 2018, work on the interiors and landscaping are currently near completion.