Robert K. Massie Book order (chronological)

Robert K. Massie, renomovaný historik a publicista, nositel Pulitzerovy ceny, přichází s dalším titulem o velkých ruských vládcích. Tentokrát nás provede osudy německé princezny Sofie, která se stala jednou z nejvýznamnějších panovnic osvíceného 18. století. Ano, řeč je o současnici Marie Terezie a Josefa II. – carevně Kateřině Veliké. Autor strhujícím způsobem vypráví o osudech mladičké princezny Sofie až po její přeměnu v mocnou panovnici největšího státu světa. Nevyhýbá se Kateřininým strastem v manželství s Petrem III. a neopomene zmínit ani intriky a pikantnosti tehdejšího carského dvora, kde se za chybu někdy platilo i životem.

"A book to astonish readers: never before has Stalin's Gulag been the setting for a love affair. This powerful narrative by a distinguished historian will take its place not just in history but in literature." -- Robert K. Massie, author of Catherine the Great Author of Natasha's Dance and The Crimean War In 1946, after five years as a prisoner--first as a Soviet Union POW in Nazi concentration camps, then as a deportee (falsely accused of treason) in Russia's Arctic Gulag--twenty-nine-year-old Lev Mishchenko unexpectedly received a letter from Sveta, the sweetheart he had hardly dared hope was still alive. Amazingly, over the next eight years the lovers managed to exchange more than 1,500 messages, and even to smuggle Sveta herself into the camp for secret meetings. Their recently discovered correspondence is the only known real-time record of life in Stalin's Gulag, unmediated and uncensored. Orlando Figes draws on Lev and Sveta's letters as well as KGB archives and recent interviews to brilliantly reconstruct the broader world in which their story unfolded. With the powerful narrative drive of a novel, Just Send Me Word reveals a passion and endurance that triumphed over the tragic forces of history.

A tale of power, perseverance, and passion unfolds through the extraordinary life of an obscure German princess who became one of history's most remarkable and captivating women. Born into a minor noble family, she transformed herself into empress of Russia through sheer determination. For thirty-four years, she wielded control over the government, foreign policy, cultural development, and the welfare of the Russian people, navigating domestic rebellion, foreign wars, and the upheaval caused by the French Revolution. The narrative vividly brings to life her family, friends, ministers, generals, lovers, and enemies, showcasing a story richer than most in history. This compelling portrait reveals not only a Russian titan but also a flesh-and-blood woman, offering an absorbing and satisfying biography. Critics have praised it as juicy and suspenseful, with a great life irresistibly told. It has been recognized as one of the best books of the year by numerous esteemed publications, highlighting its significance and impact. The book promises to return to life an eternally fascinating figure, making it a must-read for those interested in powerful women and historical narratives.

In August 1914 the two greatest navies in the world confronted each other across the North Sea. At first there were skirmishes, then battles off the coasts of England and Germany and in the far corners of the world, including the Falklands. The British attempted to force the Dardanelles with battleships - which led to the Gallipoli catastrophe. As the stalemate on the ground on the Western Front continued, the German Navy released a last strike against the British 'ring of steel'. The result was Jutland, a titanic and brutal battle between dreadnoughts. The knowledge, understanding and literary power Robert K. Massie brings to this story is unparalleled. There will never again be a war like this in which seagoing monsters hurl shells at each other until one side is destroyed. The story is driven by some of the most dramatically intriguing personalities in history: Churchill and Jacky Fisher, Jellicoe and Beatty. And then there were the powerful Germans - von Pohl, Scheer, Hipper, and the grand old fork-bearded genius Tirpitz. Castles of Steel is a book about leadership and command, bravery and timidity, genius and folly, qualities which are of course displayed magnificently by Robert K. Massie's literary mastery.

The compelling quest to solve a great mystery of the twentieth century: the ultimate fate of Russia's last tsar and his family. In July 1991, nine skeletons were exhumed from a shallow grave near Ekaterinburg, Siberia, a few miles from the infamous cellar where the last tsar and his family had been murdered seventy-three years before. Were these the bones of the Romanovs? If so, why were the bones of the two younger Romanovs missing? Was Anna Anderson, celebrated in newspapers, books, and film, really Grand Duchess Anastasia? This book unearths the truth. Pulitzer Prize winner Robert K. Massie presents a colourful panorama of contemporary characters, illuminating the major scientific dispute between Russian experts and a team of Americans, whose findings – along with those of DNA scientists from Russia, America, and the UK – all contributed to solving one of history's most intriguing mysteries.

With the biographer's rare genius for expressing the essence of extraordinary lives, Massie brings to life a crowd of glittering figures: the single-minded Admiral von Tirpitz; the young, ambitious Winston Churchill; the ruthless, sycophantic Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow; Britain's greatest twentieth-century Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey; and Jacky Fisher, the eccentric admiral who revolutionized the British Navy and brought forth for the first true battleship, H.M.S. Dreadnought. Their story, and the story of the era, filled with misunderstanding, missed opportunities, and events leading to unintended conclusions, unfolds like a Greek tragedy in this powerful narrative. Intimately human and dramatic, Dreadnought is history at its most riveting.

Copyright 1982 in Great Britain, printed and bound in Italy

Against the monumental canvas of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe and Russia unfolds the magnificent story of Peter the Great, crowned co-tsar at the age of ten...his "incognito" travels in Europe...his unquenchable curiosity about Western ways...his obsession with the sea and establishment of the stupendous Russian navy...his creation of an unbeatable army...the construction of St. Petersburg on swampland...his transformation of Russia...his relationships with those he loved most: Catherine, the robust yet gentle peasant, his loving mistress, wife, and successor; and Menshikov, the charming, bold, unscrupulous prince who rose to wealth and power through Peter's friendship. Impetuous and stubborn, generous and cruel, tender and unforgiving, a man of enormous energy and complexity, Peter the Great is brought fully to life.

A “magnificent and intimate” (Harper’s) modern classic of Russian history, the spellbinding story of the love that ended an empire—from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Peter the Great, The Romanovs, and Catherine the Great “A moving, rich book . . . [This] revealing, densely documented account of the last Romanovs focuses not on the great events . . . but on the royal family and their evil nemesis. . . . The tale is so bizarre, no melodrama is equal to it.”—Newsweek In this commanding book, New York Times bestselling author Robert K. Massie sweeps readers back to the extraordinary world of the Russian empire to tell the story of the Romanovs’ lives: Nicholas’s political naïveté, Alexandra’s obsession with the corrupt mystic Rasputin, and little Alexis’s brave struggle with hemophilia. Against a lavish backdrop of luxury and intrigue, Massie unfolds a powerful drama of passion and history—the story of a doomed empire and the death-marked royals who watched it crumble.