This entry in the Royal Diaries series is a fascinating look at Russian history. This book is filled with glamor, mystery and intrigue as well as dramatic depictions of war and revolution.

Shortly before the end of World War I, Bolshevik revolutionaries took over the country of Russia. These Bolsheviks became the Communist Party, which ruled the Soviet Union until 1991. In order to rise to power, the Bolsheviks stripped the reigning monarch, Tsar Nicholas II, of his throne, arrested him and his family, and finally murdered them all on July 17, 1918. They buried the bodies in a pit in a forest, believing that the world would never know what had happened to them. They were wrong. Not many years ago, the grave --- and the bodies --- were found. The tsar and his family were finally laid to rest in a burial ceremony 80 years to the day from their execution.

Knowing the end from the beginning, as we now do, makes this historical novel a heartrending tragedy to read. The book tells the story of the imperial family from January 1914 until May 1918. It begins with Anastasia and her family living in unimaginable luxury, enjoying great wealth and power. Tsar Nicholas does not rule over a kingdom such as England, where the monarch is a figurehead and the government is really run by Parliament. The tsar of Russia is an absolute monarch. Tsar Nicholas is so revered by the Russian people that they kiss his shadow as it passes them. The imperial family has many palaces, they dress in silks and velvets, they have their own train, and they travel from one palace to another throughout the year. But in the midst of all the splendor that surrounds their lives, tragedy is building around them.

Anastasia has three sisters, Olga, Tatiana, and Marie. Her little brother Alexei, who will be tsar when Nicholas dies, has hemophilia. This means that his body can't stop bleeding. It's especially dangerous when he bruises himself and bleeds internally. Since the blood can't clot, it fills up inside him and causes painful swelling. The doctors can't do anything to help him. Only a "holy man," Rasputin, can make him better. Anastasia's mother, the tsaritsa Alexandra, believes in Rasputin as if he were God. Anastasia doesn't like Rasputin, because he looks weird, he's dirty, and he smells. The people of Russia don't like Rasputin, either, because he doesn't live like a holy man and they fear his influence over the tsaritsa.

Then World War I begins. The Russians believe it will be over in just a few months. But it lasts a lot longer, and thousands of Russian soldiers are killed. The people blame the tsar. Nicholas and his wife love Russia very much, but Alexandra is of German heritage. The Russian people, who are fighting the Germans, blame their defeats on "that German woman." Things become much worse when Nicholas decides to stay with the soldiers and govern the war while Alexandra runs the country. She makes Rasputin her advisor. She hires and fires counselors and government officials based on what Rasputin tells her to do. The people suffer terrible poverty, the government is mismanaged, and people hate the imperial family even more. Alexandra refuses to listen to anybody who warns her about Rasputin. Neither Nicholas nor Alexandra understands the depth of the people's hardships and hatred.

Finally, some nobles conspire to murder Rasputin. They succeed, but --- if it would have helped save the imperial family and Russia --- it's too late. Revolutionaries take over the city where Alexandra and the children are living. The tsar rushes back from his troops, but the revolutionaries capture his train and force him to abdicate. Then, in March 1917, the entire family is arrested, even their servants. Anastasia's diary ends two months before the family is murdered.

But after the executions, a legend was born. People said that not all the imperial family had died. They said that one --- the youngest grand duchess, Anastasia --- had survived. A woman named Anna Anderson claimed to be Anastasia, and nobody could disprove it. She died in the 1960s, and still nobody knew whether she really was Anastasia. Then the bodies were discovered in the pit, and extensive DNA testing confirmed that they were the imperial family of Russia. Interestingly, not all the bodies were there. Two bodies were missing --- Alexei and one of the grand duchesses. No one can agree whether the missing grand duchess was Marie --- or Anastasia. The legend lives on today.

--- Reviewed by Tamara Penny