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Paperback and eBook editions. 304 pages

Originally published in 1924, this new edition of ‘Memories of Russia 1916-1919’, features a new introduction by Romanov historian Paul Gilbert

Every victim of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 had a story to tell. One of the most tragic was that of Princess Olga Valerianovna Paley (1865-1929) the morganatic second wife of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich (1860-1919).

Born in 1865, she married an officer of the Russian Imperial Guard, Erich Augustinovitch von Pistohlkors, the couple had four children.

Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, a long-time friend of Pistohlkors, often spent his evenings with the Pistohlkors couple in Tsarskoye Selo; where he became smitten with Olga’s beauty, elegance, and her worldly and lively spirit. Their affair resulted in the birth of a son, Vladimir

Their affair created a scandal at Court and the Emperor forbid his uncle to marry Olga. Following her divorce from Pistolkors, Olga and Paul defied Nicholas II, resulting in their expulsion from Russia. They married in Livorno, Italy, and settled in an elegant mansion built in Boulogne-sur-Seine, France for several years. It was here that Olga gave birth to two more daughters,

In 1904, Prince-Regent Leopold of Bavaria titled Olga Countess of Hohenfelsen, and upon their return to Russia, the Tsar created the title of Princess Paley for her and their children.

During the revolution, her husband the Grand Duke and their son Vladimir were arrested and subsequently murdered by the Bolsheviks. Olga and her daughters escaped to Finland and then returned to Paris, where she died in 1929.

© Paul Gilbert. 1 September 2025