White Crow: The Life and Times of the Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich Romanov, 1859-1919

(Hardback)

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Based on material from Russian archives, this is the biography of Nicholas Mikhailovich Romanov (1859-1919), the only intellectual in the Russian Imperial Family. This study provides insight into the last six decades of tsarist Russia through the experiences of the "oddball" member of the clan. An historian and a biologist, the Grand Duke made major contributions in both these fields. A political liberal, he fought tirelessly for reform from within the system. His reformist views made him a pariah within his own family, and contemporary recognition of his accomplishments came more from abroad than at home. Entering the military, as all Romanovs did, the Grand Duke eventually became hostile toward it and was in fact the only family member ever to formally leave military service. He received honorary doctorates from the Universities of Berlin and Moscow and even won election to the French Academy - one of only two Russians to do so. As the political situation in Russia worsened, he urged the tsar to implement reforms, and he even participated in discussions of a palace coup. Exiled to Vologda after the Communist seizure of power, he was later imprisoned by the police and shot in January 1919.

Reviews

"This detailed biography of Tsar Nicholas Il's intellectual and cosmopolitan cousin is a major contribution to scholarship in Russian history. Based on extensive archival research in Moscow, Paris, and elsewhere, and utilizing many materials unavailable to researchers until recently, the study also draws on interviews conducted earlier by Professor Cockfield with high-placed figures who had first-hand familiarity with aspects of the figures and events treated....the biography sheds valuable light on social, political, and intellectual life in Russia during the period and on major events, including the uprising of 1905, the assassination of Rasputin, and the great revolution of 1917 and its sequels. Well-written, rich in detail, and carefully documented, this compelling volume offers to the general reader as well as to specialists in Russian history a fine portrait of the Grand Duke and his times." Catharine Savage Brosman author Images of War in France: Fiction, Art, Ideology "The author has used skillfully a large variety of archival and other materials in this interesting biography of an overlooked but significant member of the Romanov family. The section devoted to his experiences in the 1917 Revolution is especially significant." David MacKenzie Professor Emeritus of History University of North Carolina, Greensboro

Author Bio

JAMIE H. COCKFIELD is the Willis Borders Glover Professor of History at Mercer University.