Rating: 
Summary: The perfect antidote to Massie's Nicholas & Alexandra
Review: While I question the authors' English usage at times, this is a good book that fills a large gap in the history of the fall of the Romanov dynasty. Whether the authors meant to show Nicholas and Alexandra as two of the biggest baddies who ever drew breath is another story, not to mention Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, usually seen as the ill used mouse of the Romanov family [due to her biographer Ian Vorres] but here, refreshingly portrayed as she was probably was; conniving and devious, with both eyes fixed on the main chance! Michael & Natasha is a moving story of the ups and downs of Imperial fortune. A couple who were clearly in love. Natasha's foundering fortunes in exile make heartrending reading. The authors tell the story in a straigtforward manner, and the narrative flows well. One point the authors don't quite clarify is the fact that Natasha's claim on Nicholas and Alexandra's bank account in Berlin in the 1930's was made as the beneficiary of her late son, not because she was on equal footing with the other relatives. As a morganatic wife of a Grand Duke she could not inherit, but as the mother of Michael's deceased child she could. Her action galvanized Anna Anderson's supporters to request the withdrawal of the certificate of inheritance which led to the ensuing court case to prove that Anna Anderson was Grand Duchess Anastasia. The authors claim Mrs Anderson's action failed in 1961, but in fact the case was finally abandoned in 1977, not before it was ruled 'non liquet' [that is, unsatisfactory to both parties,] in 1970. Interestingly enough, it was the bank which held the funds who wrote to Mrs Anderson to warn her of the action. Could they but have known! I think the book is quite well researched, as the authors have been able to avoid the traps that Massie fell into in Nicholas and Alexandra. I've read this book twice now, and it all seems so sad. That Russia was governed by such an unstable woman and that no-one could have possibly foreseen the outcome of her actions throughout the 20th century and beyond. Least of all by the remainder of the Romanov dynasty.
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