Robert Alexander Books

“Is it possible to penetrate the enigmatic Russian soul?  Yes, if for many years you lovingly study Russia, her people, her history and culture. In my opinion, Robert Alexander has brilliantly accomplished this task in his book, The Kitchen Boy.  As told by the kitchen boy, Leonya, the last tragic days of Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, the heir Tsarevich Alexei, and the Grand Princesses Olga, Tatyana, Maria, and Anastasia, is a story that cannot leave anyone untouched.  The detailed description of their daily lives, clothing, and speech is remarkable. Through the power of the author’s imagination, we see not only the tragedy of the Emperor, but that of a human being, man, and father. Undoubtedly this book will be of great interest to the American reader, who knows so little of the true Russia and her history.”
— Ivan Sergeevich Artsyshevsky, Representative in Russia, The Romanov Family Association

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“In The Kitchen Boy (2003), Alexander creatively imagined an answer to the mystery of the last days of the Russian imperial family during the revolution––the question centering on whether any family member survived the slaughter in the basement of their Siberian house of exile. Now in, Rasputin’s Daughter, he ventures into the never-cleared-up last days of Gregory Rasputin, the monk who held sway at the pre-revolution court. Employing the fast pace of a thriller and the ability to make a remote historical episode personal to the reader, Alexander views events from the perspective of Rasputin’s elder daughter, Maria. World War I rages on, and the auxiliary members of the Romanov family are fit to be tied over Empress Alexandra’s obsessive need for the ministrations of the hated Rasputin; Maria soon realizes her father’s life is truly in jeopardy. What finally happens to him involves not only conspiracy within the imperial family but also a personal betrayal by a young man Maria had fallen for. The author lends great understanding to the time and to actual historical figures.”
— Brad Hooper, Booklist

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“For 90 years this story has cried out to be told. And who better to tell it than Robert Alexander, the talented Minneapolis author who has made a justifiably celebrated name for himself relating Russian history to Western readers in a collegial style that sacrifices neither accuracy nor authenticity? With the successes of his two previous books on the Romanovs, The Kitchen Boy and Rasputin’s Daughter, he continues to mine the rich lode of the ill-fated ruling house with The Romanov Bride, a compelling story of the Grand Duchess Elisavyeta.”
— Star Tribune, Minneapolis