| | |  | Bicycles Acessories | | Home » » » | | | | | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Frances Welch | | Hardcover:
| 368 pages | | Publisher:
| W. W. Norton & Company | | Publication Date:
| September 17, 2007 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 0393065774 | | Product Width:
| 147.5 centimeters | | Product Height:
| 211.0 centimeters | | Product Weight:
| 1.18 pounds | | Package Length:
| 8.2 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.8 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.0 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.05 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 11 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 11 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 18 found the following review helpful:
 Well written, entertaining guide to the life of an Anastasia ClaimantOct 24, 2007
By Tim Welsh
"tsarskoe"
As a former Anna Anderson supporter, I dreaded reading this book. For over a decade I have studied the claim's Anna Anderson's to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov, and while I no longer believe that she was actually the Grand Duchess I still respect and am fascinated by those individuals who spent years of their lives trying to support and aid this very fragile (mentally and physically) woman. Yet, I was pleasantly surprised by the author's ease of maintaining the dignity of the participants while showing quite accurately the circumstances of Anna Anderson's life.
For those unfamiliar with this case the story proves as fantastic as any fictional novel and just as entertaining. For those who are already familiar with Anna Anderson I believe there are enough new tidbits of information that will help to clarify some of the remaining mysteries of this case.
Both readable and informative, I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the mysteries surrounding this most famous of Anastasia claimants.
14 of 18 found the following review helpful:
 An Extraordinary Woman And Her FriendsSep 13, 2007
By John D. Cofield
A Romanov Fantasy is the story of the most famous royal pretender of the twentieth century: Franziska Schanzkowska, a Polish peasant woman who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicolaevna, daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, for some 64 years. It is also the story of the many devoted and eternally patient friends who sheltered and supported Franziska, better known as Anna Anderson, throughout that time.
Franziska was a highly intelligent woman with a gift for drama. Unfortunately she also seems to have been mentally and emotionally troubled from an early age, so that she was unable to use her abilities positively. Her charm and her ability to pick up information enabled her to pose so successfully that even some of Anastasia's close relatives and former servants and associates were unable to either denounce or accept her. She used her magnetic personality to gather a crowd of supporters who, despite being exasperated by her time and again, seem never to have stopped believing in and trusting her.
Frances Welch's biography concentrates primarily on Franziska's life and on the problems her supporters had dealing with her. The crucial last bit of the story, the DNA testing that ultimately proved Franziska was not Anastasia, is barely discussed. While it would be nice to read a fuller biography of Franziska, she was so unaccountable and so bizarre that it would probably not be possible to write one.
10 of 15 found the following review helpful:
 Entertaining, but I wish she got the photos right!Oct 16, 2007
By Helen Azar
"helenazar"
The book is not bad, but what put a damper on it for me is that the author had her photos mixed up, she identified the wrong sister as Anastasia a couple of times... You would expect she would at least get that one right. Maybe it was the publisher's fault. Some other minor mistakes and a few somewhat shifty sources, but on the whole a good read. For a change a non-fiction book about Anna Anderson as who she actually was: a mentally ill woman posing as a Russian grand duchess, as well as about the phenomenon of her dogmatic followers.
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
BAug 08, 2008
By Lauren Magnussen
Welch's well received biography of Anna Anderson (or, to put it more succinctly, the woman who pretended to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia for some sixty years) manages to both inform and entertain without losing focus or academic content. Certainly the author had quite a task ahead of her: rumors and stories abound about the woman that was Anna Anderson, and it must have been quite a feat for Welch to sift through fact and fiction in a world damaged by tabloid headlines. Parts of note were those that literally delved into Anderson's lifestyle - a surprising and often perplexing world filled with grandiose thoughts and incoherent madness. Welch sporadically confuses the reader with endless names of royals and people mixed up in the claim, but those rough patches soon give way to clear narrative. I went into this book thinking I would get the author's opinion or analysis, but alas, she stays staunchly in the middle and there is little to no bias (which to some would be a good thing). Overall, a pleasing piece of work that brings together numerous lives to uncover one life that has, until now, seemed so elusive.
I enjoyed this bookJan 14, 2012
By R. Lowe
Anna Anderson was anything but uninteresting over the course of time. I admit I truly believed her to be Anastasia Romanov and thought the DNZ had to be misqued if anything. But I began reading more and became convinced anderson pulled off a case of mistaken identity that fascinated the world for over 60 years. It is a strange story and sadly for Anderson she got caught up in a web of lies of her own making. For anyone intersted in Anderson and the anastasia story, I highly recommend this book.
See all 11 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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