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Rating: 
Summary: Very nice...
Review: From Dagmar of Demark to Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia, this beautiful woman was nonetheless a remarkable person. One doesn't see many biographies as of late on the last living Empress of Russia. Coryne Hall does a good job in helping us remember a great icon in Russian history.
Rating:
Summary: An Incredible, Tragic Life
Review: I can't improve on the reviewers below, but I must say this is a very comprehensive, yet readable biography, one that is a "must have" for any Romanov fan. The life of Empress Marie is one of extremes. Born in a rather insignificant branch of royalty, she is catapulted to one of the most glittering kingdoms of its time. And yet, despite the tremendous wealth, her life is marked by tremendous tragedy. I had always wanted to learn more about Marie since reading Robert Massie's "Nicholas and Alexandra", and this book does not disappoint. My only two (minor) complaints are 1) rather sloppy editing (in one family tree a member is 130 years old when she dies) and 2) I find the book slightly overpriced at [item price]. Despite this, however, I do recommend this biography of an incredibly interesting woman. I think you will enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: An Incredible, Tragic Life
Review: I have always looked on Czar Alexander III as a less well-known figure, so when I saw this biography of his wife I read it because I wanted to know more about her husband. I found this a rewarding read, since the life of Dagmar, wife and widow of Alexander III, is full of the events which made Russia a centerpiece of history from 1881 to 1928 (when Dagmar died). It is not an academic biography but it reads very easily and moves right along. One cannot help but be appalled by the insensitivity of the Russian ruling class before the Revolution--which no doubt explains the ferocity of the events of 1917 and the following years. And as one who about 20 years ago was very interested in the Anastasia story, and Anna Anderson, (and after reading Peter Kurth's book Anastasia: The Riddle of Anna Anderson on Oct 24, 1983, for a time believed that Anna Anderson actually was Anastasia) this book's incidental account of the denounement of that issue was of high interest. This book will be relished by anyone interested in Russian or royal history. The genealogy tables on the covers are helpful to keep straight the tangled families of European royalty.
Rating:
Summary: Very readable
Review: I have always looked on Czar Alexander III as a less well-known figure, so when I saw this biography of his wife I read it because I wanted to know more about her husband. I found this a rewarding read, since the life of Dagmar, wife and widow of Alexander III, is full of the events which made Russia a centerpiece of history from 1881 to 1928 (when Dagmar died). It is not an academic biography but it reads very easily and moves right along. One cannot help but be appalled by the insensitivity of the Russian ruling class before the Revolution--which no doubt explains the ferocity of the events of 1917 and the following years. And as one who about 20 years ago was very interested in the Anastasia story, and Anna Anderson, (and after reading Peter Kurth's book Anastasia: The Riddle of Anna Anderson on Oct 24, 1983, for a time believed that Anna Anderson actually was Anastasia) this book's incidental account of the denounement of that issue was of high interest. This book will be relished by anyone interested in Russian or royal history. The genealogy tables on the covers are helpful to keep straight the tangled families of European royalty.
Rating:
Summary: The first new bio of Dagmar since the 1960's
Review: It's been a long time since any new research has been done on Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia. Most recent works have concentrated on Nicholas and Alexandra to the exclusion of the rest of the Romanovs.Marie' was born as Dagmar, a princess of the Danish Royal house and was sister to Queen Alexandra of Britian and King George of Greece. Her life was long and eventful. She came from an impoverished royal familiy, ended empress of the richest royal house in Europe and finally an exile with the bulk of her Russian family and relations killed in the revolution. The sole "imperial" survivor. This book presents information that I haven't seen before. The author has had access to new sources inside Russia that weren't available for earlier biographies and it makes this book worth reading as I found a few suprises in information, especially in regards to her first engagement. A worthwhile and timely update of Dagmars life that explains the sorces of many of the conflicts of the 19th century and gives us an overview of imperial life from the 1860's to the 1920's,
Rating:
Summary: The first new bio of Dagmar since the 1960's
Review: It's been a long time since any new research has been done on Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia. Most recent works have concentrated on Nicholas and Alexandra to the exclusion of the rest of the Romanovs. Marie' was born as Dagmar, a princess of the Danish Royal house and was sister to Queen Alexandra of Britian and King George of Greece. Her life was long and eventful. She came from an impoverished royal familiy, ended empress of the richest royal house in Europe and finally an exile with the bulk of her Russian family and relations killed in the revolution. The sole "imperial" survivor. This book presents information that I haven't seen before. The author has had access to new sources inside Russia that weren't available for earlier biographies and it makes this book worth reading as I found a few suprises in information, especially in regards to her first engagement. A worthwhile and timely update of Dagmars life that explains the sorces of many of the conflicts of the 19th century and gives us an overview of imperial life from the 1860's to the 1920's,
Rating: 
Summary: A worthy companion to Nicholas and Alexandra
Review: This biography of the last Dowager Empress of Russia should be shelved next to Robert K. Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra. Like Massie's work, this biography by Coryne Hall does more than just cover the life of its subject, it successfully evokes the last sixty years or so of the Romanov Dynasty, Russia, and Europe. Dowager Empress Marie Fedorovna was born into an obscure branch of the Danish Royal Family with little money and fewer prospects. Her rise to fame and fortune began when her father was adopted as the heir to the Danish throne, making her and her siblings acceptable spouses for the royal houses of Europe. Marie (or Dagmar, as she was originally named) had one sister who married the Prince of Wales, a brother who became King of Greece,and another who became King of Denmark. Dagmar herself was picked to be the wife of the Tsar of Russia's heir. Dagmar/Marie seems to have sincerely loved her fiancee, Tsarevich Nicholas, and she was devastated when he died a few months after their engagement. Nevertheless she was able to accept and eventually love Nicholas's younger brother Alexander, and together they produced what seems to have been an unusually happy royal family of five children. Marie became Empress of Russia under the horrifying circumstances of the assassination of her father-in-law, and the reign of her husband Tsar Alexander III was tense and reactionary. Marie seems to have been utterly loyal and loving, and although Hall tries to paint her as a secret liberal, no evidence is given that she ever tried to moderate any of her husband's policies. When Alexander III died in 1894 Marie's oldest son became Tsar Nicholas II. Here we see Marie's less admirable side as her cold treatment of her daughter-in-law Alexandra cut the ground from under the new Empress almost as soon as she arrived in Russia. Hall cannot offer an explanation for the two womens' lack of sympathy beyond saying that they were simply too different. As the book goes on, this lack of sympathy becomes even more tragic, as Alexandra came under the thrall of Rasputin and Nicholas's fatalism caused him to take less and less action as Russia weakened and collapsed. One senses that the Tsar and Empress could have used a dollop of good Danish common sense every now and then! The last part of the book is the most heroic. Marie stuck it out in Russia, to her own considerable endangerment, until late in the Revolution and only consented to leave if her companions were also allowed to do so. During her last few years she stubbornly maintained as much grandeur as possible (to the considerable aggravation of her relatives who paid her bills) and died in her native country in 1928. She is buried in the Danish Royal Family's crypt. I hope that eventually her last wish, that she be reburied beside her husband in St. Petersburg, can be realized. It would be a fitting final tribute.
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