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Rating: 
Summary: I Believe She Lives
Review: I believe that the young Anastasia escaped at the time of the assasination of her father, mother, and her older siblings. After watching the specials on her, I feel confident that she did survive the overthrow. I also believe that if she hasn't already died she is still out there. And it would be a huge miracle for her to come out. She may be able to take the throne foe her father because I believe that is what he would of wanted her to do.
Rating: 
Summary: Anna Anderson, russian princess or not?
Review: I thought the book was excellent. I am 12 years old and have been very interested in the Romanovs since the age of 11. (I'm turning 13) I thought the book was so good I finished it in a day! I personally believe that Anastasia didn't survive, though I wish had, she didn't. The only thing I can say about Anna Anderson is that she must have been smart and lucky to be able to fool the people she did. With the information in the book I came to the conclusion that Miss Anderson wasn't her since she refused to do the tests and that there pretty much seemed to have given it away. The real Anastasia wouldn't have refused for giving DNA tests because she was the REAL Anastasia. So I think Anna Anderson was sly yet smart, but wasn't the real Anastasia. I suggest this book to any one who is interested in the Romanovs.
Rating: 
Summary: Ehhh.
Review: Interesting, but nothing I haven't seen before. People (which I think mostly are ...) who believe in the story of Anna Anderson being the Grand Duchess wouldn't like this book. I'm quite sure about these DNA tests, but then again, one would be better off buying The Final Chapter by Massie which explains everything and I mean everything (except for a few things scientists forgot, like Tatiana being the missing daughter). As for knowing of the visit in 1916? Letters to his wife and from are all about being at the front. Ernst was not in Russia, although it is common knowledge Nicholas wanted to settle the war at the Hague.
Rating:
Summary: Ehhh.
Review: Interesting, but nothing I haven't seen before. People (which I think mostly are ...) who believe in the story of Anna Anderson being the Grand Duchess wouldn't like this book. I'm quite sure about these DNA tests, but then again, one would be better off buying The Final Chapter by Massie which explains everything and I mean everything (except for a few things scientists forgot, like Tatiana being the missing daughter). As for knowing of the visit in 1916? Letters to his wife and from are all about being at the front. Ernst was not in Russia, although it is common knowledge Nicholas wanted to settle the war at the Hague.
Rating: 
Summary: utter .............
Review: this book is a lot of utter ........ that should never have been printed. it is a blatant attempt to cash in on the romanov tragedy. anna anderson WAS anastasia and dubious dna tests will not change that.
Rating:
Summary: facts vs. opinions
Review: This book is based on the fact that the DNA tests proved that Anna Anderson was a poor factory worker and also a mentally deranged individual, with an unusual acting ability. This book is difficult for Anna followers to accept, because it is a human trait to hold on to previously-formed opinions, even when all facts prove it false and foolish. I recommend this book only to those readers who want facts about Anna, instead of myths, beliefs, and hopes.
Rating:
Summary: But how did she escape the bullets??
Review: This book is yet another version of the fascinating story of the last days of Tsar Nicholas II and his family. The book is strongest in its presentation of the endless squabbling among those with an interest in what happened to the Romanovs. That Nicholas and his family were taken to a basement room at Ipatiev House in Ekaterinberg, Siberia and shot seems to be well-documented. But exactly who did the shooting and why? The authors give us a cast of characters. The more interesting part -- and what is in dispute -- is this: Did everyone die in that basement? What happened after the shooting, when the soldiers hauled away the bodies? The authors try to retrace the events, but provide no story about any person in the basement group surviving, or how anyone could have survived.And that brings us to the title of the book. Did Anastasia somehow survive the rain of bullets and thrusts of bayonets in that basement and reappear some years later in a mental hospital in Berlin? Was the woman known as Anna Anderson really Anastasia? As the authors point out -- but only after you've read to the end of the book -- DNA evidence says she was NOT Anastasia. If she was not Anastasia, how did she manage to convince many credible people, including people who knew Anastasia, that she was? The points of similarity were many, both physically and in her knowledge of the Russian court. Many of the people who believed she was the daughter of the tsar have not accepted the DNA evidence. Those who do accept it say she was really a Polish peasant who disappeared at the same time that "Anna" appeared. Many people had vested interests in the story of Anna. Surviving members of the Romanov extended family supposedly wanted to make sure that Anna did not inherit any of the tsar's reported fortune (although no fortune was ever found), so it was because of their greed that they would not accept Anna as Anastasia. In some cases, investigators got sucked into the story (either looking for fame, fortune or simply charmed by Anna) and spent years of their lives trying to establish Anna's identity. Those who persist in believing that Anna was Anastasia say a peasant girl could not have had such a "regal bearing" or knew as much about the Romanovs as Anna did. However, I see no reason why a Polish peasant girl who spent years in a hospital with nothing to do but read books and study couldn't have learned about the Russian court and couldn't have practiced acting like a Russian Grand Duchess. From the evidence, it appears that Anna came to believe she WAS the tsar's daughter. But if so, how did she claim to have escaped the bullets? Yes, she could have claimed amnesia about the event, but her identity as Anastasia is not believable without some accounting of her escape and the authors give us none. Perhaps because for them the DNA evidence was conclusive. Anna is NOT Anastasia. The book is an entertaining read, and I enjoyed it, but it does not live up to its subtitle: "Solving the Mystery of the Lost Romanovs." As long as some people will not let go of their vision of Anastasia, who still believe that Anna was the tsar's daughter, then the story goes on. There are also at least two "pretenders" who have said they are Alexei -- both are dead now, but their families press their claim. Since two bodies were never found -- those of Alexei and of one of the daughters -- it seems likely that this is one story that will never go away, a mystery that can never truly be solved.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing new here
Review: This is the unfortunate story of the last Romanovs -- Anastasia in particular...rehashed. The author makes sure to offer both sides of the Anderson story, but there is always a very clear undercurrent with this book...in other words, he is definitely part of the opposition to Anderson's claim. Important evidence is ignored entirely or glossed over. Many gramatical errors, some spelling errors. The whole book reads like it was written in haste. The last line in the book is ridiculously naive and assuming...regarding the 20th century, "We longed to have, of peace and family pleasures, and the dreams of any little girl who would close her eyes and become a princess." This is an absurd statement. Anna Anderson hardly lived nor fancied herself much of a princess. Did she lie sleeping at night content with this "fairy princess world" she "created"? What about the countless reports of Anderson's reality...she wept bitterly in the night, if she slept at all. This book is just too silly to be bothered with. I am making these statements based upon study of this subject for the past quarter century, so I'm not new to this. And I don't recommend this book to anyone just learning about the Romanovs and Anna Anderson.
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