Autumn is here, a perfect time of the year to begin stocking up on your winter reading! I am pleased to offer 2 NEW book titles, plus copies of my 2021 calendar dedicated to Russia’s last emperor and tsar.

MEMORIES IN THE MARBLE PALACE ( Click HERE to order this title)
by Prince of the Imperial Blood Gabriel Constantinovich

290 pages . 45 chapters. 28 black and white photographs. Price: $25 + postage

This is a new edition of the first English translation of the memoirs of Prince of the Imperial Blood Gabriel Konstantinovich Romanov (1887-1955). They are not just a memoir, but a very valuable resource for the history of Imperial Russia in the late 19th to early 20th century. The narrative covers the period from 1887 to 1918.

The second son of Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich, Prince Gabriel tells about events such as the coronation of Nicholas II at Moscow in 1896, the assassination of Pyotr Stolypin at Kiev in 1911; the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Patriotic War at Moscow in 1812; the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty in 1913; the first Russian Olympics in 1913; the outbreak of World War I in 1914; the assassination of Grigory Rasputin in 1916; the February and October 1917 revolutions in Petrograd; the beginning of the Red Terror.; and Prince Gabriel’s miraculous escape from certain death at the hands of the Bolsheviks in 1918.

Gabriel’s memoirs pay much attention to the everyday life of members of the Russian Imperial family, including Emperor Nicholas II and his family, as well as those of the Konstantinovichi branch: his grandparents, his mother and father, his 5 brothers and 2 sisters. He also provides vivid descriptions of his family’s palaces and estates, including the Marble Palace in St. Petersburg; the Constantine Palace in Strelna; Pavlovsk Palace near St. Petersburg; and the country estate of Ostashevo, near Moscow.

DEAREST MAMA . . . DARLING NICKY ( Click HERE to order this title)
Letters Between Emperor Nicholas II and his Mother Empress Maria Feodorovna 1879-1917

Trade-size 9” x 6” paperback. 244 pages. More than 200 letters. Price: $25 + postage

Written between the years 1879, when Nicky was a little boy, and 1917, after his abdication, this collection of letters are a revelation of the personalities of the Emperor and his Empress mother. They were never part of the imperial archives but the cherished possession of both correspondents, carried with them wherever they went. At the outbreak of the revolution, the letters were confiscated by the Soviets.

From some five hundred letters, more than 200 have been selected and translated from the French and Russian. They have particular bearing on the Tsar’s relatives in England, Germany, Italy and Greece; on political personages in Russia, and their Romanov relatives. All of their family but Uncle Willie, the German Emperor, found a place in their affections. To them, he was always an exhibitionist, dangerous in his national ambition. Uncle Bertie, Aunt Alix, Georgie, May, and Granny—respectively King Edward VII, Queen Alexandra, King George V, Queen Mary and Queen Victoria—emerge as human beings, minus crowns and ermine.

The correspondence sheds considerable light on Nicholas II’s character, family affairs, and politics, especially in regard to the 1905 Revolution. The preface provides an interesting assessment of the correspondence and its historical significance.

Unlike his diaries, these letters are essential human documents of great historic importance, and in the case of the Tsar, will alter many preconceived notions of his character, and the negative assessment which has persisted for more than a century.

NOTE: Dearest Nicky, Darling Mama was originally published in England in 1937, under the title The Letters of Tsar Nicholas and Empress Marie; they were published in the United States in 1938, under the title The Secret Letters of the Last Tsar. Out of print for decades, this is the first edition of this title published in nearly 90 years!

NICHOLAS II. EMPEROR. TSAR. SAINT. 2021 CALENDAR ( Click HERE to order this title)

28 pages. Illustrated with 16 photos. Price: $10 + postage

Each month features an iconic full-page black and white photograph of Russia’s last monarch, during some of the brightest and darkest days of his 22-year reign.

Nearly 70 holidays and observances in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia and Russia are featured, with room to write in your own special dates and events.

Also featured, are the birth dates of members of Nicholas II, Alexandra Feodorovna, and their five children, as well as important dates in the reign of Russia’s last tsar.

ALL net proceeds from the sale of each calendar will go into my research on Nicholas II, including translation costs.

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Click HERE to order these titles from my online bookshop with a credit card or PayPal

Click HERE to download and print an order form and pay by personal check or money order

© Paul Gilbert. 18 October 2020