Saturday, November 13, 2010

The Romanovs in the 21st Century

Daniel Willis -- I call him Dan -- is a friend.  We share a common interest in royal genealogy.  He has tacked several major projects, including The Descendants of George I, The Descendants of Louis XIII and The Descendants of Maria Theresia of Austria.   His most recent book, which was published in 2009, but still available, focuses on a more modern line:  The Romanovs in the 21st Century A Genealogical Biography.  
Nicholas I is the progenitor for all the modern Romanov descendants: from sovereigns and consorts to models, photographers, actors and school teachers.
Most of the modern descendants of Nicholas I are not well known, and live largely ordinary lives in the United States, Canada and Australia. 
Dan, who lives in Denver, Colorado, did a lot of research to update and enhance the Romanov genealogy, especially filling in many (but not all) of the blanks, especially for the lesser known non-royal descendants.  He also provides good background information on what many of these descendants do for a living - and where they live.  One story is rather sad.
Nicholas Romanoff, known as Nick, born in 1968, was the grandson of Prince Rostislav Alexandrovich of Russia by his second wife, Alice,  Nick, nor his father, Nicholas, grew up knowing very little about their imperial heritage.  Nicholas was abandoned by his father, who went to live in England, and never returned, when he was a small child. He died in 2000 from complications suffered in a car accident.  
Young Nick, who lies in San Diego, has been married and divorced twice.  He had a son, Cory Christopher, born in 1994, by his first wife, Lisa.   After their divorce, she moved with Cory and her boyfriend, Richard Tiarks, to Memphis, Tennessee. On January 5, 1998, Tiarks killed the little boy, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. 
This book was published in German print on demand publishing firm VDM (Verlag Dr. Müller.)  The book is in English.   The book includes a small number of very small illustrations.  The print for the genealogy is what we describe as "fine print."  Seriously, some readers might need a magnifying glass.

The Romanovs in the 21st Century won't be found at your local bookstore or even through Amazon or Amazon.co.uk.   You can order the book from Amazon. de.

http://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk_de_DE=%C5M%C5Z%D5%D1&url=search-alias%3Denglish-books&field-keywords=the+romanovs+in+the+21st+century

The price of the book is a rather pricey 68 Euros (plus postage.)  However, I see this book as an investment because there is not a lot of information on more recent Romanov descendants.    I personally think this book is a must have!  One little quibble -- the index is a bit convoluted as the page numbers do not always correspond to the actual text.

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