Ms. Rappaport has given us a well-researched story of Paris before and after the Russian Revolution and what led to the downfall of the Romanov dynasty.

Paris has always been a gathering place for culture. The food, the fashion, the ex-pats, including the Russian aristocracy. The Russians brought money and spent it almost obscenely. And those descriptions go a long way to explaining the Bolshevik’s rage and brutal acts. Those who escaped were those who had either thought ahead or the ones who ran with only what they could carry.

In Paris, these same former royals were doing menial labor along with their families. Paris welcomed everyone. Artists, writers, and even spies. Some did very well and some did very poorly.

The research in this book is spot on. I have always had a fascination with the Romanovs and this book went a long way in explaining the politics and the Romanovs.

Very Well Done!

NetGalley/ March 8th, 2022 by St. Martin’s Press

I want to thank NetGalley for obtaining a copy of this book for my review.
The book starts after the Russian revolution but prior to WWI where Paris was during a time of Belle Epoche . It was a time where the nobility of Russians found Paris as a playground for the wealthy.
Music and the ballet came to Paris, writers and artists. Like Chagall. Fashion evolved in Paris with the Russian help.
. But, when the Czar Nicholas lost power the nobility fled Russia with there clothes on their backs. Women dragged their jewels to sell for money.
It was a hard life for the Nobel folks to give up their lives. They became seamstresses and men drove taxes. There are many examples of what happened to various people. If you do not follow Russian history and the Romanovs it became difficult to keep track of everyone. The research is impressive. The Russians found their own area with a church, school, hospital and a home for those lacking care.. The military tried to stay together. But the Russians had their own spies. The book details the despair, and hopeless feeling, the depression of the destitute.
Eventually the Russians came to Paris and the Russians
and Jews fled to other countries including the USA.
It is quite the endeavor to tackle such detail of a period of Russian life..If you are into an excellent historical account of this period go for it.

Extensively researched and intelligently written, I learned quite a lot from this book, which is one reason I go into these sorts. It wasn't dry and tended to be quite easy to read for the most part - I say 'for the most part', because the translations were inconsistent and there were French and Russian words peppered throughout, causing me to pause reading to then look up what all of these meant. I am not too sure on the reasoning behind translating some things over others and it was a minor inconvenience, however, I enjoyed the read enough to see it through.

Depending on my mood, I either appreciated the abundance of quotes provided or found some to be like those times you had to write a paper that had a word/page count, but you were struggling to meet said requirement and defaulted to adding as many source quotes as possible. Again, that shouldn't deter you from reading this if you're a history buff or at all interested in the Romanovs and their circles of Russian elites, the Russian revolution, or emigration of one exiled culture and peoples to another country. It just, I don't know, made the flow funky or something.

I also had a personal resonation at one point, as I hadn't realized/put two and two together that the exodus of Russians occurred when my own ancestors from Armenia were escaping their country. When Rapport mentioned Russians boarding vessels that also contained fleeing Armenians, it was alarming to realizing just how much discord and turmoil was happening in that part of the world, and the strains undertaken by neighboring countries as they took in refugees, willingly or not.

I have always been fascinated by the Romanovs and was excited to read After the Romanovs: Russian Exiles in Paris from the Belle Époque Through Revolution and War. I thought it was pretty good. Four and a half stars.

After the Romanovs is a bit of a misnomer as the title of this book, as Rappaport begins covering Russia and its elites several decades prior to the execution of the Tsar and his family and the rise of the Bolsheviks and continues through mainly to the beginning of World War II. This does help establish the stark contrast though, between the lives members of the upper class were able to live in Paris prior to either fleeing or being forcibly removed from Russia. The “before” period is without a doubt the story of decadence – jewelry, high fashion, the upper crust of society in music and entertainment. And oh, how the mighty have fallen several decades later. With no funds to live off of, no practical skills for many and few jobs available for those with practical skills, the former Grand Dukes and Grand Duchesses are forced into menial labor to survive and artists, musicians and writers struggle to reconcile the world they now live in against the one that shaped and influenced them. Rappaport covers the full gamut, and at times the book is richer for it by showing a full experience of every type of Russian émigré but it also bogs it down; trying to keep all of the different people and their occupations (or lack thereof) can be a struggle. Any reader that has a great love of where they come from will certainly empathize with the Russians removed from their homeland; it may be more difficult to generate sympathy for Grand Dukes used to showering jewels on mistresses being forced to work as taxi drivers. The author shows that there are those that acknowledge their circumstances and learn to adapt, but there are many that struggle to reconcile that a pampered existence is no longer theirs for the taking and prefer to live in the past – and their glory years. A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
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Fascinating look at the Russian royal family, and specifically, the extended family members who survived the Russian revolution. Unlike most books I have read about the Romanovs and others, all of the information in this book was new to me... and it was fascinating. Thank you so much to St Martins Press for this book! I really enjoyed it!

This is a very detailed and highly researched tale of the history of the Russian people during and following the Russian Revolution, WWI and WW2. As their homeland is taken over, the ruling family of the Romanovs are either killed or displaced. Most of the residents and many of the aristocracy fled the country trying to find shelter from oppression. A great many of them went to Paris, London and later to the Americas. This book reveals many of their stories. It details their struggles, their losses and what it took to begin again after financial losses so great that Princes were reduced to shop workers and/or taxi cab drivers, dishwashers and the menial tasks available mostly to uneducated workers. The book deals with the Great Russian ballerinas, artists, musicians, poets, writers and so many others. There is an overwhelming amount of research carefully referenced and gives the reader a feeling of attending a very advanced college class on the history of the Russian people. I learned a lot from this book and highly recommend it. But I will say there found myself having to go back and forth in the book to keep characters straight and feel this would be easier in a print version.

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tw: death, addiction, infidelity, murder, illness, false imprisonment, poverty, child abandonment, mentions of drug use, drugging, execution, suicide

A special thank you goes out to St Martin’s Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read this eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

When St. Martin’s Press sends me an eARC of a book, no matter what it is, I read it. That’s just the rules around here. Luckily, St. Martin’s Press seems to know my interest and sends me books that they think I would enjoy. While this book should have been something I enjoy, I found that I just couldn’t get into it, like I wanted to. And no one is more sad about this than I am.

I have realized, from reading this book, that I am not as well versed with the Romanovs like I thought I was. Sometimes, I overestimate my knowledge about certain things and this was the time when I did just that. There were just so many different royals, a lot of them I didn’t know and I couldn’t keep track. There was even a very nice glossary in the beginning of the book, but since I read this on a Kindle and not a physical book, I couldn’t easily flip back to it like I wanted to. That would have helped out my confusion so much. So I spent much of the time just plain confused.

Even though I spent most of my time confused, I did manage to learn a lot. I often wondered what happened to the Russian royals who survived. It’s not like they could stay in Russia after everything that happened. Turned out, they went to France, which I didn’t expect. It was sad to see that, at first, the French welcomed the Russians. After a while, they came to really resent them and the resources they used. Reminds me of America, but we won’t get into that. Or we can later if you want. I don’t mind.

Overall, this was a rare miss with St. Martin’s Press. But that’s okay. You can’t love them all. It was a good book, I just underestimated my Russian knowledge, like I mentioned above.. That just means I need to read more books about them and I am sure my favorite publishing company has some books to help me on my quest. So don’t be afraid to let me know, St. Martin’s Press!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of After the Romanovs Russian Exiles in Paris from the Belle Époque Through Revolution and War by Helen Rappaport to review. This is such an interesting historical book. If you have a passion for Russian history as Helen Rappaport does, or want an introduction of how life in Paris was like after the Russian aristocracy fled their homeland, this is definitely a book for you. Each chapter covers various groups such as the arts, fashion, authors and poets, and former military and how they did or didn't adjust to living in Paris. The last two chapters then go on to tell what had happened to those who stayed in Paris and those who returned to Russia. During their time in Paris they lived in poverty and those who could took menial jobs after selling what little property such as jewelry that they were able to bring with them while dreaming of returning to Russia and hopefully the life they had lived before. It's a fascinating look at life in Paris when it was the vacation playground of the rich and how Paris treated them after the revolution when they became emigrants who quickly ran out of money. This is a well-researched book that helped me understand a particular moment in time. There are a lot of people who are discussed but there is also a cast of characters list for reference along with an extensive bibliography and notes section. Definitely a book to recommend.

A compelling and intriguing look at the lives of the Russian aristocrats dispersed after the fall of the czar and the collapse of the country. AFTER THE ROMANOVS delivers a glittering and richly researched portrait of life among the dispossessed--and a portrait, too, of Paris and its denizens. Highly recommended.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher St. Martin's Press for a advanced copy of this European history book.

Paris was not only the City of Lights, but to the Russian counts and countesses before the revolution in their motherland that would cost the world so much, Paris was their playground. Obscene amounts of money would be spent, some on art, but mostly on baubles, bangles and fashionable gowns, until the reckoning of the tsar's overthrow made their playground their refuge. Helen Rappaport in her book After the Romanovs: Russian Exiles in Paris from the Belle Époque Through Revolution and War describes this time from the glittering beginnings to the darkness that came as World War II and more revolutions scattered these exiles further.

The book is highly researched, and extremely well written, with numerous sourcing and footnotes. There are a lot of people and titles and family, and family ties to keep track of and Ms. Rappaport does a very good job of keeping them clear and easy to follow in the narrative. Ms. Rappaport delves into politics, art, science and all sorts of intriguing facts and discourses about the exile community in Europe, things that I was unaware of. Some of the stories are happy, most seem sad, and as Ms. Rappaport states, finding stories for the unsuccessful was a tad more difficult, history is never really written by the losers or the disenfranchised, those that she writes about are very tragic.

Another part I found interesting was the need for France to open its borders, from losses sustained in the World War. And how willing they were to have emigres, until the Depression made that difficult and immigration was reduced to practically nothing. A very diverse history about a tumultuous time in Europe between the wars, a book that will appeal to many different readers.

I really enjoyed this book by Helen Rappaport. It was very well done and interesting. Would definitely recommend this to anyone.

What happened to the Russian Aristocracy after the Revolution? Where did they go to escape persecution? Why did the Tzars prefer to flee to Paris? In “After the Romanovs”, Helen Rappaport answers these questions and enlightens the reader to the fate of Russian’s Royalty. I consider her the upmost authority on Russian history! If Russian Aristocracy is your subject, then I highly recommend this latest book by Helen Rappaport to include in your personal library.

Helen Rappaport’s latest book is a thought-provoking and compelling story about Russian emigrants before and after the Russian Revolution. During the early years of the 20th century in Paris, the Russian aristocracy enjoyed opulent lifestyles with connections to the musical and visual arts. The high society of Russia was influenced by the French language and fashion, while the wealthy Parisians were affected by Russian culture, especially in the arts of literature, ballet, music and opera.

After the Bolsheviks gained power, there were few surviving members of the Romanov family. Some were able to escape with thousands of other Russians to Greece and France. Their lives went from riches to rags within a decade. The list of emigrants at the beginning of the book was quite helpful. Some lived long and meaningful lives, while others never adjusted to their new surroundings. Thank you to Net Galley for providing this book.

I received this book as an ARC and this is my review. This book chronicles the difficult years following the fall of the Tsar and the Romanov dynasty in Russia. It is filled with meticulously researched information and biographic data about well- and little-known Russian refugees who left their country to survive the Revolution. I totally recommend this story to readers who are curious about the plight of these historical figures and their contribution to world history.

This was an interesting read. Chronological record of the Romanov which I am interested in, so this book was very enlightening to me. I truly enjoyed it and learned so much!

This well done nonfiction tells the story of Russians in Paris. I appreciated that Rappaport gives us the history leading up to the Revolution. She starts at the turn of the century, contrasting the haves and the have nots of the Russians. The money spent by the aristocracy boggled my mind and gave me a much better understanding of what led to the revolution. The have nots included mostly artists (like Chagall), writers and musicians.
Once the Revolution took place, I was shocked at the number of emigres that made it out of Russia and to Europe. I had to give credit to these aristocrats, who were forced to take on menial work. As was said at the time “the men drive taxis and the women sew for a living.”
I had wondered why France was so willing to take on so many emigres. The answer lies in the loss of lives during WWI and the need for labor.
The book is very detailed, giving many specific examples of what happened to individual aristocrats. There’s a very small tidbit about George Orwell’s friendship with an emigre working as a waiter. I couldn’t help but wonder if this didn’t play into his anti-communist works.
As would be expected, it’s a sad book. Few succeeded, there were a meaningful number of suicides. The depression and then WWII added to their troubles. And in the end, the younger generation assimilated into French culture.
My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.

Interesting (unknown to me) Russian history and very well researched. It was difficult in an e book to go back and forth remembering the characters. I would definitely get this in a hard copy.

I enjoyed this book. It was very interesting and informative. If I had to critique one thing I'd say the chapters are too long. They'd be fine if there were subsections but a 30 minute chapter is long for any nonfiction book. I did learn a lot too.

An interesting look at what became of the Russian aristocrats during the Bolshevik revolution. Helen Rappaport has a way of writing non-fiction that really draws you in and makes you want to keep reading. History buffs rejoice, you will love this one! A big thank you to St. Martin's Press and to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.