The Romanovs and Mr. Gibbes: The Story of the Englishman Who Taught the Children of the Last Tsar - Hardcover

Welch, Frances

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 190409516X ISBN 13: 9781904095163

Publisher: Short Books Ltd, 2002

Synopsis

Sydney Gibbes was appointed tutor to the children of Tsar Nicholas II in 1908 and over the next six years lived as one of the family in the royal palace. A demanding, fastidious man, he found the Romanovs bizarrely devout and insular. Yet he came to hold them all in deep affection. In this biography, Frances Welch draws on unpublished material, including Gibbes' letters and diaries, to throw light on the tragic Romanov story, telling it from the English teacher's point of view. The catastrophe, when it came, permanently affected Gibbes. He was a vital eye-witness to events - one of the first to gain entry into "The House of Special Purpose" after the assassination - and spent the rest of his life trying to vindicate the Tsar's memory.

About this title

Review:

"A Masterpiece of comic understatement." -- Iain Finlayson, The Times

"A biographical gem..." -- T.J. Binyon, Evening Standard

"A jewel of a book...[which]...tells us more about the Romanovs...than a dozen more conventional biographies..." -- Kathryn Hughes, Mail on Sunday

"I was hooked from page one... This is cumulatively moving – A real triumph of sympathy." -- A.N. Wilson

"Welch writes with a limpid style and a cool intelligence." -- George Walden, Sunday Telegraph

From the Back Cover:

Sydney Gibbes was appointed tutor to the children of Tsar Nicholas II in 1908. Over the next ten years he became deeply attached to the Imperial family – and they to him.
Frances Welch draws on a wealth of unpublished material to throw new light on the Romanov story, telling it from the English teacher's point of view. The tragic events of the Russian Revolution devastated Gibbes, turning him into an obsessive Russophile, who was to go to extraordinary lengths to remain faithful to the old order...

About this edition

• Publisher: Short Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 190409516X
• ISBN 13: 9781904095163
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 125