The family members of Nicholas II, Russia's last tsar, were executed in July 1918, soon after the Bolshevik Revolution -and the speculation as to what exactly happened hasn't died out during the past 85 years. In this comprehensive volume of one of his tory's great intrigues, independent scholars King and Wilson stoke the flames of controversy with a creative theory: Lenin and the other Bolshevik rulers in Moscow didn't give the orders to kill the tsar's family, as has been believed. This wasn't out of any sympathy for Nicholas and his family-in fact, the authors point out that Lenin was perhaps the epitome of realpolitik, allowing little emotion in his political decisions. Using an intriguing reading of the Russian archives, the authors argue that Lenin preferred a trial to an execution for fear of antagonizing the Germans, whom he wanted to appease in order to consolidate his own grip on power. Instead, it was local Bolsheviks in Ekaterinburg, where the royal family was held, who made the decision to go ahead and execute Nicholas and his family. The executions were blamed on Lenin because it served as a convenient myth for those lamenting the f all of the Romanov dynasty. While the book is somewhat longer than necessary, those fascinated with the case will find it worthwhile. (Sept.) (Publishers Weekly, July 28, 2003)

King (The Man Who Killed Rssputin) and Wilson, a historian specializing in Russia's late imperial era have written a graphic compelling reconstruction of the fate of the last tsar and his family and a detailed account of the case's developments in 1989-2001. Rather than blame the murders directly on Lenin, King and Wilson devote half of their account to proving that the Ural Regional Soviet decided on its own to murder the family, informing Lenin and the Presidium days later. The book's second half examines the wildly contentious ""discovery"" and identification of the royal bones in 1989, even though the Soviet government knew where the mass grave was all along. The disastrous exhumations made identification of the 11 sets of bones nearly impossible-a problem that was compounded when American forensics experts looked into the matter and failed to find the bones of two of the children. This account of the Romanovs' last days is far more graphic than Mark Steinberg and Vladimir M. Khrustalev's The Fall of the Romonovs, but Chapter 21 drops an unexploded bomb: ""The evidence, as it now stands, does not support any such conclusions about the possible deaths of either Grand Duchess Anastasia or Tsarevich Alexi.... (I)t is at least possible that one or more of the victims remain alive."" This opinion is supported only by the lack of physical evidence and seems to run counter to the authors' description of the murder scene earlier in the book. However, the exhaustive documentation and notes and readable style make this book necessary for academic and public libraries. - Harry Willems, Southeast Kansas Lib., Iola (Library Journal, September 15, 2003)

""...I was pleasantly surprised: this complex, fascinating work based on new archives...compellingly revisionist..."" (Daily Mail, 16 November 2003)

""...The Fate of The Romanovs is both encyclopaedic and compelling..."" (Evening Standard, 17 November 2003)

""...the resulting book is a masterpiece of historical research..."" (The Good Book Guide, January 2004)

""...the two authors have turned their investigations into a murder-mystery tale..."" (South Wales Argus, 27 December 2003)

""...makes for fascinating reading...an erudite retelling of a story that refuses to die..."" (Fortean Times, January 2004)

""A startlingly revisionist history of the last months of the Imperial family that compellingly destroys the tired old romantic cliches and recreates the Tsar and the commissars as real characters."" (The Financial Times)

""...a startlingly revisionist history of the last months of the Imperial family t