Books

NEW BOOK – Tsar Nicholas II by Alexei G. Elchaninov

Posted on by Paul Gilbert

REVISED and UPDATED 2026 EDITION

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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.

© Paul Gilbert. 3 September 2026

NEW BOOK -The Real Tsaritsa’ by Lili Dehn

Posted on by Paul Gilbert

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English. Size: 8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″. 231 pages.

***

NOTE: this book was originally published in 2021. This NEW 2026 edition features a beautiful sepia-colour cover and is available in a hard cover edition for the first time.

***

Rumour was busy in her lifetime with amazing tales about the late Empress of Russia; how much or little truth lay behind such rumours was known only to her few closest friends, and one of the few was Lili Dehn (1888-1963).

Great-granddaughter of Prince Koutousoff, the famous defender of Moscow against Napoleon I, Lili Dehn was admitted, after her presentation at Court, into the home circle of the Tsaritsa, and a great friendship grew up between them. Her study of the Empress’s personality, habits, views, life as she led it, is intimate and illuminating.

Here is the truth about Rasputin, with new light on the legend of his alleged “power over” the Imperial Household, the inner reason for the scandalous reports circulated concerning him and the Empress, and a grim, enthralling account of his death and burial. Lili Dehn was the first person to whom the Empress came with the news of the Tsar’s abdication, and she witnessed his return after that supreme humiliation.

There are dramatic elements in the narrative of the early days of the 1917 Revolution; life at Tsarskoye Selo while the Tsar and his family were under house arrest in the Alexander Palace; and in the record of the writer’s own imprisonment and adventurous escape. The interest of the book is intensified by the letters written to Lili Dehn by the Tsaritsa from captivity in Tobolsk and Ekaterinburg. This revelation at first hand of the whole tragedy of the Empress, as a wife and a mother, and of all that led to the downfall of a great dynasty, makes a profoundly human appeal.

PHOTO: Lili Dehn with Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Crimea. 1913

Lili Dehn reflects on Russia’s much slandered Empress

“The first idea of writing this book occurred to me some time after my arrival in England. I had always known that the Empress had been grossly misrepresented in Russia, but I had not attached much importance to the fact, as I had seen the Revolutionary propaganda, and I fully realized the methods of the Revolutionaries in relation to the Imperial Family. I was, however, astonished and horrified to discover that the same ideas were current in the broad-minded and enlightened country which has afforded me and so many other fugitives such kindly sanctuary.

“If possible, I think the Empress has been more universally condemned in England than in Russia. I have scarcely heard her name mentioned without its being coupled with the degrading attributes of treachery, sensualism, hysteria, and religious mania. To one who knew her intimately and who loved her devotedly, such a state of things is unspeakably painful. I accidentally saw a film which was the grossest libel on her character and her personality, the mind of the producer having been apparently bent upon presenting the Empress as a combination of the chief forms of lurid wickedness which appeal to patrons of the cinema. I have also read novels about her which, whilst enraging me as mendacious chronicles, have considerably enlightened me as to the capacity for invention of which the human imagination is capable. More serious works have condemned the Empress in a courteous manner, but they have been none the less scathing in their judgment. Some writers, after the story of Ekaterinburg was authentically given to the world, have been more tolerant and more pitying in their censure, but it has been always censure. Therefore, in the face of such hatred and contempt for one at whose hands I have received nothing but kindness and love, I determined to write my impressions of the Empress as I knew her, both in the happy days and afterwards in those of war and unrest during the first dark weeks of the Revolution.

I reasoned, I trust with justice, that although the majority of people are always ready to believe the worst of anyone, there must be others who, in the spirit of fair play, would be willing to look on the reverse side of the picture. There must surely be friends and relations in England who would welcome facts which proved that the Empress had been true to her English upbringing and to the traditional right living of the descendants of Queen Victoria. English people seem to have forgotten, when the Empress was vilified on the screen and in cold type, that she was the daughter of Princess Alice, a name which is associated with all that is noblest and best in woman, a name which alone, one might have thought, would have pleaded for that of her daughter. But nothing protected her, not even the facts that her first cousin was King of England and that one of her sisters was married and living in this country. I knew the almost impossible task of rehabilitation which lay before me, but, as the task daily assumed greater proportions, love and pity for my beloved friend urged me to attempt.”

The Real Tsaritsa by Lili Dehn was first published in English in April 1922 in London by Thornton Butterworth Ltd., followed by a US edition later that year from Little, Brown and Company.

PHOTO: Lili Dehn (left), Anna Vyrubova (center) and Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna (right), having tea at Vyrobova’s house in Tsarskoye Selo .1907

Who was Lili Dehn?

Lili Dehn (born Yulia Alexandrovna Smolskaia; 1888–1963) was a Russian aristocrat, memoirist, and close personal friend of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna during the final years of the Russian Empire.

Lili was born on 9th August (O.S. 27th July) 1888, at the family estate in southern Russia, Revovka, the home of her ancestor General Mikhail Kutuzov, victor over Napoleon in the invasion of Russia in 1812. Her parents were Ismail Selim Bek Smolsky and Catherine Horvat. Both sides of her family had a long history in Russia. Her parents divorced when she was eleven and her mother later remarried. Her maternal grandmother then helped raise Lili.

Lili was educated by tutors at home and understood very little Russian as a child because her family spoke French. When she was a young girl, she loved listening to the popular stories of old Russia told by her maternal grandmother and her childhood nanny. Later she had an English governess. She loved her childhood estate, and every time she went to visit her uncle in Livadia, she took with her a bit of Revovka soil to remind him of home.

Lili married in 1907 in Yalta Carl Alexander “Joachimovitch” Akimovich von Dehn, a Russian naval officer whose family was from Tallinn, Estonia, Finland and Sweden. Dehn was an officer on the imperial yacht Standart and was a favourite of the imperial children. The Tsarina took an interest in Dehn’s new wife and became friends with her after the marriage.

The Tsarina was the godmother of the Dehns’ son, Alexander Léonid, born 9th August 1908 and nicknamed him “Titi”. Alexander was baptized according to the Lutheran rite, which was required by her husband’s family to maintain an inheritance. Alexandra remained troubled by the fact that her godson had a Lutheran baptism and insisted seven years later that the child be rebaptized in the Russian Orthodox Church. The Dehns granted her request.

Lili trained as a Red Cross nurse during World War I and treated wounded soldiers in a military hospital.

PHOTO: Lili Dehn in exile – year unknown

She was with the Imperial family at the outbreak of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and helped care for the Imperial children and the Tsarina’s friend, Anna Vyrubova, who was also Dehn’s distant cousin, during a measles epidemic. She witnessed the abdication of the Tsar and the imprisonment of the family by the new provisional government. Dehn left the palace and tried to persuade the provisional government to place the imperial family under house arrest in their own home because her son Alexander was dangerously ill.

Lili fled Russia aboard the ship SS Kherson with her mother and son via Turkey and Greece. They eventually reached England. The family first settled in England, where the von Dehns had two more children, Catherine, in December 1919, and Maria, in April 1923.

They later moved to her father’s estate, Hołowiesk near Bielsk Podlaski, in eastern Poland. Her husband died in 1932. After World War II broke out, Lili was forced to emigrate again and ended in Caracas, Venezuela, with her son Alexander and her daughter Maria. In 1958 she moved with Maria and her husband Kurt Happe to the United States and then to Rome

Lili Dehn died in Rome on 8th October 1963 at the age of 78. She was buried in the Testaccio Cemetery (grave No 820).

© Paul Gilbert. 4 August 2026

NEW BOOK – ‘Ladies of the Russian Court’

Posted on by Paul Gilbert

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English. Size: 8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″. 164 pages.

***

NOTE: this book was originally published in 2021. This NEW 2026 edition features a FULL-COLOUR cover and is available in a hard cover edition for the first time.

***

The stories which make up these six portraits are drawn from Meriel Buchanan’s own memories, stories of six remarkable women at the Russian Imperial Court, during the reign of Emperor Nicholas II.

In this gallery of portraits are included the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna, wife of Emperor Alexander III and mother of Emperor Nicholas II; the Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna, the wife of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich; the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, the wife of the Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and sister of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna; the Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna, the wife of the Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich; the Grand Duchess Olga Nicholaievna, eldest daughter of Emperor Nicholas II; and Princess Zenaide Yousoupoff, the mother of the  infamous Prince Felix Yousoupoff.

In dealing with these ladies of the Russian Court, the author evokes all the mystery, fascination, splendour, and elegance of Tsarist Russia. Ms Buchanan writes with a charm and ease most fitting to the characters she describes.

***

Meriel Buchanan (1886-1959) was the daughter of Sir George Buchanan (1854-1924), British Ambassador at St. Petersburg, from 1910 until the end of the Romanov Dynasty in 1917. She grew up in the Courts of Europe and Imperial Russia, amid the fading glories of an age now past.

© Paul Gilbert. 7 July 2026

Recommended reading: Books on Lenin and the Bolsheviks

Posted on by Paul Gilbert

‘The Bolshevik’ (1920)
by Boris Mikhaylovich Kustodiev (1878-1927)
From the Collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

On 7th November (25 October, O.S.) 1917, the October Revolution began. It is officially known in Soviet historiography as the ‘Great October Socialist Revolution’, an illegal coup organized by the Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks. This tragic date was instrumental in the larger Russian Civil Warm which lasted from 1917–23. The Bolsheviks plunged the once great Russian Empire into an abyss.

Their crimes are unprecedented, and included the nationalization [a fancy word for robbery and theft] of the Imperial palaces and all their contents; the destruction of all monuments of emperors and tsars; tearing down tsarist symbols from buildings; placing a bounty on the heads of all members of the Russian Imperial Family, which resulted in the murder of more than a dozen grand dukes and duchesses and princes of the imperial blood.

It is important to note that while it was not the Bolsheviks who overthrew Emperor Nicholas II, they were indeed responsible for the end of both the monarchy and the Russian Empire, by ordering the murder of Russia’s last Tsar, his wife, heir and four daughters.

In January 1918, Lenin ushered in the First Red Terror, and thus setting the stage for his successor Joseph Stalin, who carried out his own Red Terrors.

The Bolsheviks persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church resulted in the desecration and looting churches and monasteries, followded by the closure and destruction of Orthodox places of worship. Thousands of priests, clergy, nuns and believers were persecuted, imprisoned and murdered.

During the First World War the Russian-Soviet artist Ivan Alekseevich Vladimirov (1869-1947) was living in Petrograd. He created a series of paintings and coloured drawings about life in Petrograd under the Bolsheviks, during the Revolution and the Civil War. After the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II, he joined the the Petrograd militia and illustrated events of the Russian Revolution.

His works reflect his personal eye witness account of the savagery and brutality of the Bolsheviks during the 1917 revolution, the consequences of which resulted in the deaths, imprisonment and displacement of millions of innocent men, women, and even children, atrocities against the Russian Orthodox Church, and the destruction of Imperial and Holy Russia.

Vladimrov was just one of the artists who captured the atrocities of the Bolsheviks on canvas, but what about those who recorded the tyranny and horror of that time in words and photographs? English-language studies of Bolshevik atrocities are few and far between, however, there are a few noteworthy works to consider.

I have compiled a short list of 3 titles, which I highly recommend to those of you who are interested in early 20th century Russian history. They paint an accurate picture of the wanton path of fear, death and destruction left by Lenin and the Bolsheviks. All of the titles listed below can be ordered from your favourite bookseller or AMAZON, while second-hand copies can be found on eBay, Alibris and Bookfinder.

Historian Yuri Felshtinsky presents a revisionist view in Lenin and His Comrades: The Bolsheviks Take Over Russia 1917–1924 (2010), arguing that Lenin and his closest associates were effectively a minority of opportunists and “common criminals” who executed a successful coup d’état. According to Felshtinsky, this characterization of the Bolsheviks as gangsters suggests that the Communist regime was inherently unstable from its inception due to the circumstances of its rise to power.  This perspective challenges traditional narratives that portray Lenin and his comrades as heroic revolutionaries.

‘Cursed Days’ by Ivan Bunin (1998), reflects the authors’ diary of the years 1918–1920 in Moscow and Odessa. It is regarded as one of the very few anti-Bolshevik diaries to be preserved from the time of the Russian Revolution and Civil War.

Bunin’s account of his last days in Bolshevik Russia recreate events with graphic and gripping intimacy. His scathing criticism of Bolshevik leaders is unparalleled, referring to them as “pitiful, dull, mangy-looking creatures.”

On hearing of the death of the Bolshevik leader, Vladimir Lenin, in January 1924, Bunin gave an emotional speech in Paris, in which he dubbed Lenin “a degenerate by birth, who committed the monstrous crime of crashing the world’s most powerful nation and killing several million people.”

‘Cursed Days’ was originally published in 1925–1926 in the Paris-based ‘Vozrozhdenye’ newspaper (its final version was published by ‘Petropolis’ in 1936). The first English-language edition was published in 1998. ‘Cursed Days’, was banned in the Soviet Union until the late 1980s, it has since been published in 15 editions!

Bunin was the first Russian writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (1933). He was revered among White Russian emigres for his anti-Bolshevik views, and regarded him as a true heir to the tradition of realism in Russian literature established by Tolstoy and Chekhov.

Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin died in Paris on 8 November 1953.

‘History’s Greatest Heist: The Looting of Russia by the Bolsheviks’ (2009) is among my TOP 10 favourite reads. Author Sean McMeekin’s book, which draws on previously undiscovered materials from the Soviet Ministry of Finance and other European and American archives to expose some of the darkest secrets of Russia’s early days of communism.

Building on one archival revelation after another, the author reveals how the Bolsheviks financed their aggression through astonishingly extensive thievery. Their looting of imperial palaces, churches, the nobility included everything from the cash savings of private citizens to gold, silver, diamonds, jewelry, icons, antiques, and artwork.

McMeekin’s prodigious research exposes the rape of the culture of Old Russia, and the Bolshevik plundering of her people. The reader is left feeling sorrowful and revengeful for the actions of these robbers.The author points out what a lax citizenship will allow, when a small band of violent rebels and thugs,set out to destroy your country, your culture, and your person.

This is an extraordinary story, a real page turner, and scholarship at its best! 

‘Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime’ (1993) by Richard Pipes is the most definitive English language study of the Bolsheviks to date.

Pipes examines the Bolsheviks’ efforts to defend and expand their dominion during the Civil War, highlighting the destructive nature of this conflict and its impact on Russian society. The book discusses the crises faced by the Bolshevik regime, including political and economic failures, and the devastating famine of 1921, which tested the resilience of the new government.Pipes also addresses the cultural and religious policies implemented by the Bolsheviks, which were often aimed at reshaping Russian society according to Communist ideals.

Pipes argues that the Bolshevik regime represented a significant attempt to impose a master plan on the entire life of the country, a precursor to totalitarian regimes that would follow in Europe. He emphasizes that many of the techniques used by the Bolsheviks were later adapted by leaders like Mussolini and Hitler for their own purposes.

‘Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime’ is a massive 500+ page read, one which is hard to put down!

***

Dear Reader, If you know of any other books on the Bolsheviks which you think of Lenin should be added to this list, please e-mail me at royalrussia@yahoo.com – PG

© Paul Gilbert. 10 June 2026

NEW BOOK – Sovereign No. 17 (Summer 2026)

Posted on by Paul Gilbert

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CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE PAPERBACK EDITION @ $20.00 USD

English. Large format 8-1/2″ x 11-1/2″.
132 pages. 122 Black & White photos

The No. 17 Summer 2026 issue of SOVEREIGN features 21 articles about Russia’s last Tsar, his family, the Romanov dynasty and the history of Imperial Russia. These articles have been researched and written by independent historian and author Paul Gilbert. His works are based on new research from Russian archival and media sources.

In an effort to preserve his 30+ years of research, the author has reproduced a selection of the more than 1,000 articles he has written for his blog. They are made available in a printed format for the first time. The author has updated many of the articles in this issue with additional information and photos. In addition, this issue features one new First English translation.

The No. 17 issue features the following 21 articles:

[1] 130th anniversary of the Holy Coronation of Emperor Nicholas II

[2] Sir Thomas Preston Recalls Ekaterinburg, 1918

[3] Six new monuments of Nicholas II installed in Russian cities

[4] Exhibition: ‘The Era of Nicholas II’ opens in Livadia

[5] ‘The Tsar’s Omen’ Exhibition opens in St. Petersburg

[6] First governor of Sverdlovsk regrets the ROC has not recognized the Ekaterinburg Remains

[7] Alexander Nikolaevich Avdonin 1932-2026

[8] Exhibition: ‘Fans pf Empress Maria Feodorovna – 1860s to 1910s

[9] The Church of the Saviour on the Waters to be restored in St. Petersburg

[10] Livadia Palace and Park to undergo large-scale restoration

[11] 300th Anniversary of the reign of the House of Romanov 1913

[12] Lenin’s presence on Red Square continues to rile Russians

[13] The assassination of Grigorii Rasputin

[14] The LAST grand duke and grand duchess of Russia

[15] Letters of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna donated to St. Petersburg museum

[16] Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna’ s archive donated to GARF

[17] ‘History Returned’ Exhibition opens in Moscow

[18] Conference: ‘Emperor Nicholas II and Dialogue with the Islamic World’

[19] Could the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg have been saved?

[20] Lost Orthodox Churches of Imperial Russia: Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (Borki)

[21 ] Derussification in Ukraine “erases” the Romanov dynasty

***

Back issues of SOVEREIGN

No. 16 Winter 2026

No. 15 Summer 2025

No. 14 Winter 2025

No. 13 Summer 2024

No. 12 Winter 2024

NOTE: back issues of Nos. 1 to 12 are now out of print.
Second-hand copies are available on AMAZON and eBay.

© Paul Gilbert. 31 May 2026

Update on new Charles Sydney Gibbes biography

Posted on by Paul Gilbert

Further to my December 2025 post regarding a new biography about Charles Sydney Gibbes, the author, Romanov historian Helen Rappaport has provided an update on this exciting new publishing project.

In early May, Rappaport wrote on social media:

“I have just completed chapter 8 and am up to 49,000 words, so the book – which will be 14 chapters long – should come in at about 80,000 words. I have now gone past nearly the entire period of Sydney’s life with the Romanovs that has been covered by others – Welch[1], Trewin[2], Benagh[3] etc – though none of them have gone into the detail that I have uncovered during my research, and have also left a lot of things out. Chapter 9 will bring Sydney to Ekaterinburg in August 1918 when he went back after the Whites and Czechs took the city to try and find out what had happened to the Romanovs and visited the Ipatiev House.

“After that I take Sydney along the Trans Siberian to Omsk, Vladivostok and then out to Beijing and finally Harbin – the part of his story that others skipped past, particularly his years in Manchuria. My narrative will be filling in this large gap in the record.

“Here he (photo below) is at the Four Brothers mine with Times correspondent Robert Wilton – the first foreign reporter to go to Ekaterinburg and report back, the two were friends and worked closely together during this time – though alas Wilton’s archive at Times International is hugely disappointing. Sad to say this rather blurry photo is the only half decent version I can find – the version of it in Wilton’s book has been crudely doctored. Sydney on left in macintosh and flat cap, Wllton looking down the mineshaft.”

Helen is still trying to get the book signed to a mainstream publisher. The text should be completed by late summer.

As I noted in my previous post, a fresh and more comprehensive study of Charles Sydney Gibbes, is long overdue. While Helen Rappaport and I do not see eye to eye on Nicholas II, I still maintain that she is the most suitable candidate to write such a book. Let us hope that she is able to find a publisher and bring this new publishing project to fruition.

NOTES:

[1] Welch, Frances (2005) The Romanovs & Mr Gibbes: The Story of the Englishman Who Taught the Children of the Last Tsar. UK: Short Books

[2] Trewin, J. C. (1975) Tutor to the Tsarecvich – An Intimate Portrait of the Last Days of the Russian Imperial Family compiled from the papers of Charles Sydney Gibbes. London: Macmillan

[3] Benagh, Christine (2000) An Englishman in the Court of the Tsar. Ben Lomond, California: Conciliar Press.

FURTHER EADING

[1] Romanov archives of Charles Sydney Gibbes + PHOTOS

[2] Charles Sydney Gibbes (1876-1963) + PHOTOS and VIDEO

© Paul Gilbert. 22 May 2026

Those who served the Tsar: Alexander Spiridovitch (1873-1952)

Posted on by Paul Gilbert

PHOTO: Alexander Ivanovich Spiridovich (1873-1952)

In 1906 Alexander Ivanovich Spiridovich was handpicked by Emperor Nicholas II to serve as his personal security chief, the position he served faithfully from 1906-1916. He was also responsible for the security of the tsar’s residences. He was a nan of honour, and one of the few men whom the Tsar put complete trust. Throughout his distinguished career, Spiridovich served his Sovereign faithfully and with honour.

He was born on 17th (O.S. 5th) August 1873 in the town of Kem, Arkhangelsk Province into the family of a hereditary nobleman. His father, Ivan Matveevich Spiridovich, was an officer of the border guard, his mother, Anna Alexandrovna, came from the family of the fabulist I. A. Krylov.

Alexander graduated from the Nizhny Novgorod Cadet Corps (1891) and the Pavlovsk Military School (1893), from where he was released as a second lieutenant in the 105th Orenburg Infantry Regiment. He was later promoted to lieutenant of the regiment. In 1899 he was transferred to the Separate Corps of Gendarmes

In 1900 he went to Moscow, where he was seconded to the Department for the Protection of Public Safety and Order, usually called the Guard Department and commonly abbreviated in modern English sources as the Okhrana [a secret police force of the Russian Empire and part of the Imperial police department under the Ministry of Internal Affairs], where he served under the command of Sergei Vasilyevich Zubatov[1] (1864-1917).

In 1902, he was appointed head of the Taurida security department in Simferopol in Crimea and in 1903, with the rank of captain, he took up the post of head of the Kiev security department. On 13th May 1903, he arrested the head of the combat organization of the Socialist-Revolutionaries, Grigory Gershuni[2], in Kiev. He was later promoted to lieutenant colonel.

On 28th May 1905, Spiridovitch was seriously wounded by his former secret collaborator, the Social Democrat P. M. Rudenko, after which he spent several months in treatment. On26th June, he was seconded to the staff of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes.

PHOTO: Tolstoy House, one of the residences
of Alexander Spiridovitch in St. Petersburg

At the beginning of 1906, Alexander was seconded to the palace commandant Dmitri Feodorovich Trepov[3] (1850-1906) and appointed head of the palace Security Agency. In 1907, he organized the protection of Emperor Nicholas II and his Family during a trip to the Finnish skerries. For distinction in service, Alexander Spiridovitch was promoted to colonel.

After the assassination of Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin in 1911, Spiridovitch was involved in the investigation on charges of not taking measures to protect the chairman of the Council of Ministers, and, although his career was considered already over, he did not lose the trust of Nicholas II and was not relieved of his post. In 1913, the criminal case was terminated by the personal order of Nicholas II.

During the First World War, Alexander accompanied Nicholas II on all trips. In 1915, he was promoted to major general for distinguished service. He organized the protection of Nicholas II at the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief at Mogilev. On 15th August 1916, Alexander Spiridovitch was appointed mayor of Yalta in Crimea.

During the February 1917 Revolution, Spiridovitch arrived in Petrograd [4], where he was arrested by the Provisional Government, held in the Peter and Paul Fortress and interrogated by the Extraordinary Investigation Commission. In early October 1917, he was released from prison on bail in October.

In 1920 he emigrated to France. He was a member of the Russian Monarchist Party in Paris. In 1926, he participated as a delegate from France in the Russian Congress Abroad. While living in emigration, he gave numerous public lectures on the history of the Russian revolutionary movement and the struggle against it, as well as lectures on Emperor Nicholas II and his family.

During his years in exile, Alexander Spiridovitch published several books on these topics and his own memoirs, including  Les Derniers années de la cour de Tsarskoïe Selo, Paris, Payot, 1928; Histoire du terrorisme russe, 1886-1917, Paris, Payot, 1930 and Raspoutine 1863-1916, Paris, 1936.

In 1950, at a meeting with the American Sovietologist Isaac Don Levine (1892-1981), he recognized as authentic a document proving that Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) was an agent of the Tsarist police.

In 1950, Spiridovitch moved to the United States, where he died in 1952 at the age of 78. He was buried at the Novo-Diveevo Cemetery – the largest the largest Russian Orthodox cemetery outside of Russia, situated in Rockland County, New York. His personal archives are today in the collection of Yale University.

NOTES

[1] Zubatov committed suicide during the February Revolution of March 1917 after hearing the news of the Emperor’s abdication.

[2] Grigory Andreyevich Gershuni (1870-1908) was a Russian revolutionary and one of the founders of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party.  In February 1904, Gershuni was tried by a military court in St Petersburg and received a death sentence, which later was reduced to life imprisonment at a hard labour camp by Tsar Nicholas II.

[3]  Trepov was Head of the Moscow police, Governor-General of St. Petersburg with extraordinary powers, and Assistant Interior Minister with full control of the police. His attempts to restore order were overwhelmed by the revolution of 1905; he retained influence with Nicholas II, when appointed as the Commandant of the Imperial Palace.

[4] In Petrograd [St. Petersburg] Spiridovitch lived in the Tolstoy House at 15-17 Troitskaya Street (now Rubinstein Street) and at 54 Fontanka Embankment in apartment 333

***

PHOTO: the first French language editions of Alexander
Spiridovitch’s memoirs, published by Payot Paris

LAST YEARS OF THE COURT AT TSARSKOE SELO – 2 Volumes
by Alexander Spiridovitch

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Originally published in French in 1928, this is the FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDITION of both volumes – a MUST read for any one interested in the life and reign of Emperor Nicholas II.

Alexander Ivanovich Spiridovitch (1873-1952) was handpicked by Emperor Nicholas II to serve as his personal security chief from 1906-1916. He was also responsible for the security of the tsar’s residences.

His memoirs offer a rare eye-witness glimpse into the private world of the last tsar and his family and their day to day life. Thanks to his eye for detail, he Alexander Palace and Livadia Palace in detail, the Imperial yacht Standart and journeys through the Finnish fjords and to Livadia in the Crimea.

Spiridovitch writes candidly about his impressions of Emperor Nicholas II and family, as well as the grand dukes and grand duchesses. He also writes about his investigation of Grigorii Rasputin.

Spiridovitch and his men were highly recognized for their counter-terrorist work. His memoirs reveal the numerous plots to assassinate Nicholas II and other members of the Imperial family by terrorist groups working within Russia.

Spiridovitch was a pillar of honesty and trust, articulate, and intelligent, loyal to God, the Tsar and Mother Russia. He was truly a gentleman beyond reproach. His memoirs offer one of the most honest accounts of the character and personality of Tsar Nicholas II and life at the Russian Imperial Court in its twilight years.

*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 ON THE LINKS BELOW TO ORDER FROM AMAZON

LAST YEARS OF THE COURT AT TSARSKOE SELO 
Volume 1
1906-1910

Volume I – 1906-1910, with 458 pages + 59 black & white photographs

CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE HARD COVER EDITION – PRICE $30.00

CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE PAPERBACK EDITION – PRICE $25.00

***

LAST YEARS OF THE COURT AT TSARSKOE SELO 
Volume 2
1910-1914

Volume II – 1910-1914, with 480 pages + 65 black & white photographs

CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE HARD COVER EDITION – PRICE $30.00

CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE PAPERBACK EDITION – PRICE $25.00

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

The third volume of Alexander Spiridovitch’s memoirs cover the years 1914-1916. This book is only available in French and Russian.

In 1935, Spiridovitch also published a book about Grigorii Rasputin (1863-1916): from Russian documents and the author’s private archives » (published in 1935). It is a detailed biography based on his direct knowledge of the Russian Imperial Court. This book is only available in French and Russian.

© Paul Gilbert. 9 May 2026

NEW BOOK – ‘The Romanovs. The Path of Holiness and Golgotha’

Posted on by Paul Gilbert

Large hard cover. 208 pages. Richly illustrated throughout. Russian edition only

The long-awaited edition of Романовы. Путь святости и Голгофы (The Romanovs. The Path of Holiness and Golgotha), has been published by the AST Publishing House. The Russian-language book is the result of many years of research by Dmitry and Ekaterina Ostroumov, dedicated to the Romanov dynasty and the spiritual path of the Holy Royal Martyrs Nicholas II and his family.

The publication is based on the exhibition dedicated to Russia’s last Tsar and his family, which opened in January 2025, in the Museum to the Royal Passion-Bearers. The permanent exhibition takes up the entire ground floor of  the Church of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers in the Russian city of Dno, situated 114 km from Pskov.

The exposition project, which went from a temporary exhibition to a permanent memorial museum. It was here that on 14th (O.S. 1st) March 1917, the Imperial Train carrying the Tsar stopped. The following day, Nicholas II abdicated the throne. The event marked the beginning of his Way of the Cross.

Today, the museum preserves unique archival materials that reveal not only the historical, but also the spiritual aspects of the life of the last Russian Emperor and his family. The museum is a tribute of the deepest respect to their sacrificial feat. The scale of the project attracted the attention of the AST Publishing House, which proposed to transfer the exhibition concept to a book forma.

The large hard cover pictorial is based on authentic documents, diary entries, letters and rare photographs. The album recreates the history of the Romanov dynasty, covering the path from the calling of Mikhail Romanov in 1613 to the glorification of the Imperial Family as passion-bearers by the Moscow Patriarchate in 2000.

The main topic of the book, however, is the last Tsar and his family – from the upbringing of the heir Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich [future Emperor Nicholas II] to a martyr’s death in 1918. Particular importance is attached to the inner world of the Holy Royal Martyrs, their family way of life, their piety and sincere service to the Fatherland.

“Understanding the person of the Tsar in the Russian state today is important not only in its political and administrative significance, but also in its sacred function,” says Dmitry Ostroumov, co-author of the book. “This album, through immersion in the history of the Imperial Family, allows us to take a deeper look at this key role of the bearer of the Tsar’s life and reign.”

Through the fate of each family member, the reader comes closer to understanding the sacred depth of the monarch’s service, where earthly government and heavenly calling are inseparable, and a look into the past helps to see what often remains hidden behind the vanity of time.

The album Романовы. Путь святости и Голгофы (The Romanovs. The Path of Holiness and Golgotha) is currently available for purchase in Russian book shops, online stores, and the official website of the AST Publishing House.

***

PLEASE NOTE: This post is for information purposes only. This book is ONLY available in Russia, there is NO English edition available, nor is there one planned. I regret that I do not know any booksellers who offer this book.

The current sanctions imposed by the West on Russia forbid financial transactions, therefore it is not possible to order this title from a Russian bookseller online – they will not accept Western credit cards, nor can you use PayPal, Western Union, etc. Although there are numerous Russian bookshops in the West, please note that some countries such as the United States now impose a 40% tariff on books being imported from Russia.

It is very unlikely that we shall ever see an English edition of this book. Having said that, if and when the sanctions are lifted, and English-speaking tourists return to Russia in the numbers prior to 2022, the Russian publisher may just issue an English language edition of what looks like something many of us would like to add to our personal libraries – myself included!

© Paul Gilbert. 28 April 2026

NEW BOOK – ‘Memories of Russia: My Travels in Post-Soviet Russia’ by Paul Gilbert

Posted on by Paul Gilbert

*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. 9″ x 6″ format. Hard cover and paperback. 314 pages.

***

This year marks the 40th anniversary of my first visit to Russia. During the past four decades, I have visited Russia 29 times!

I travelled to Moscow, St. Petersburg – and the suburban towns of Tsarskoye Selo, Peterhof, Pavlovsk, Gatchina and Strelna – as well as Yalta and Crimea, Ekaterinburg and Alapaevsk.

In my new book, which is part travelogue, part history, I share my personal impressions and history of a dozen historic sites, that I have visited – some on numerous occasions. Out of the dozen historic sites covered in my book, all but two have a connection to Russia’s last tsar Nicholas II.

Join me as I revisit such places as the Grand Kremlin Palace, the Petrovsky Travelling Palace and the Russian State Archives – where I explore the Romanov archives in Moscow; learn the fate of Nicholas II’s private apartments in the Winter Palace and the State Hermitage Theatre – venue for the famous 1903 Costume Ball; travel with me to the Children’s Island and the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral – Nicholas II’s favourite church at Tsarskoye Selo; the ruins of the Lower Dacha at Peterhof and much more!

On the cover photo above, I am standing in the magnificent St. Andrew’s Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow. The date is 27th October 2000 – the day in which I marked my 44th birthday. Of all the wonderful memories I have from the 29 journeys I made to Russia between 1986-2018, this is among one of the most memorable!

Richly llustrated with more than 200 black and white photographs!

Every one has one country in which they are drawn, for me it is Russia
– PAUL GILBERT (Retired)

© Paul Gilbert. 15 April 2026

Russian Geographical Society issues new edition of Nicholas II’s journey to the Far East

Posted on by Paul Gilbert

Earlier this week, a new Russian-language edition of a book dedicated to the 1890-91 Far East journey of the future Emperor Nicholas II, was published by the Russian Geographical Society. The three-volume set of books was presented to business circles, diplomats’ and journalists at the Russian House in Bangkok, Thailand.

The original three-volume “Journey to the East of His Imperial Highness the Sovereign Heir Tsesarevich Nicholas” was created by the orientalist and member of the Russian Geographical Society Prince Esper Esperovich Ukhtomsky (1861-1921), who accompanied Nicholas on his nine month journey.

PHOTO: Prince Esper Esperovich Ukhtomsky (1861-1921)

Recall that on 5th November (O.S. 23rd October) 1890, Tsesarevich and Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandrovich [future Emperor Nicholas II] embarked on a journey, which took him around the greater part of the Eurasian continent. The total length of the journey exceeded 51,000 kilometres, including 15,000 km of railway and 22,000 km of sea routes.

The map below depicts the Eastern journey of the future and last Tsar of Russia, which took him to Egypt, India, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Singapore, Batavia (Jakarta, Dutch East Indies) Siam (Thailand), Saigon (French Indochina), Hong Kong, China, and Japan. It was during his visit to the Empire of Japan, that Nicholas was the target of a failed assassination attempt in Otsu.

On his return to Russia, Nicholas took part in opening ceremony of the Trans-Siberian Railway in Vladivostock. He then made his way across the Russian Empire, through Transbaikalia and Siberiam before arriving back in St. Petersburg on 17th August [O.S. 4th August] 1891.

During the nine month journey, Ukhtomsky kept a travel diary, recording daily the places and landmarks visited, meetings with kings, princes and government officials as well as historical and cultural research, including geographical and ethnographic observations. His vivid essays about the countries and peoples of the East at the end of the 19th century make a fascinating read.

The original Russian-languaged edition of the book was published in three volumes between 1893 and 1897 and brought the author all-Russian fame.

An English-language edition was also published in 1896. Volume One of Travels in the East Nicholas II Emperor of Russia when cesarewitch 1890-1891 is available to read online.

The republication of Nicholas II’s journey to the Far East is timed to coincide with the 135th anniversary of the visit of Tsesarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich to Siam in 1891,” – said Anastasia Timofeeva, Advisor to the Department of Expert, Analytical and International Activities of the Russian Geographical Society.

“The Tsesarevich’s’s journey became symbolic of the beginning of friendly relations between Russia and Thailand. It was during his visit to Siam, that the heir to the Russian throne was awarded the Most Illustrious Order of the Royal House of Chakri. In turn, the King of Siam Chulalongkorn (1853-1910) was presented with the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle First-Called. This helped to establish a trusting dialogue between the two countries. Today, the republication of this historic book, continues the joint historical and cultural heritage which helps to strengthen relations between the business and cultural circles of Russia and Thailand.,” she added.

There are plans to produce a Thai-lanaguage edition of the book, of which copies will be presented to both the National Library of Thailand and the Siam Society Under Royal Patronage.

PHOTOS: an exhibition dedicated to the history of the dynastic friendship between the Russian Imperial House and the Royal House of Chakri (the ruling dynasty in Thailand, was preparted for the presentation of the book

The republished book about the travels of Nicholas II to the East presents 700 illustrations that were handmade by the Russian military officer, painter and writer Nikolai Nikolaevich Karazin (1842-1908).

In addition, the book is illustrated with photographs of Vladimir Dmitrievich Mendeleev (1865-1898), the son of an outstanding Russian chemist.

In the book, you can find sketches and testimonies about Siam (Thailand), which allows a modern reader to see the country through the eyes of the expedition participants.

The updated edition of this publication is supplemented with name and geographical indications and a map of the journey. This makes the publication accessible to both researchers and a wide range of readers.

PHOTO: guests lead through the pages of the book Nicholas II’s journey to Far East

During the presentation, the organizers prepared an exhibition dedicated to the history of the dynastic friendship between the Russian Imperial House and the Royal House of Chakri (the ruling dynasty in Thailand, which has been in power since 1782).

The presentation was followed by a gala dinner, where the cuisines of Russia and Thailand met. The chefs of the two countries prepared an unusual menu. Guests were treated to borscht with coconut milk and shrimp, buckwheat porridge with tree mushrooms and other authentic dishes.

The organizers of the project were Rossotrudnichestvo and the Restaurant Group of Russia, founded by Alexei and Dmitry Vasilchuk. The event was held with the partner support of the Russian Embassy in Thailand. The cuisine of Thailand was represented by chef Phi Thip Pausila (Belle), and the Russian gastronomic school was represented by Alexander Railyan.

© Paul Gilbert. 28 March 2026