The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming

 Fleming, C. (2014). The family Romanov: Murder, rebellion, and the fall of imperial Russia. New York: Schwartz & Wade.
The Family Romanov is a YALSA nonfiction award finalist.
Here is the tumultuous, heartrending, true story of the Romanovs—at once an intimate portrait of Russia's last royal family and a gripping account of its undoing. Using captivating photos and compelling first person accounts, award-winning author Candace Fleming (Amelia Lost; The Lincolns) deftly maneuvers between the imperial family’s extravagant lives and the plight of Russia's poor masses, making this an utterly mesmerizing read.
Lesson plans:
Where Does Power Reside in Any Government? Explore the ways in which the Romanov dynasty failed to meet the needs of the Russian people, using the events depicted in the book and digital resources below. Use this experience as a pivot to explore other moments in time when leaders have toppled. Consider the Arab Spring, the Ukraine, Iraq, and the recent failed attempt at an independence vote in Scotland. You might want to bring in the American Revolution. Does power reside in the people? Laws? Government structures? The military? Have students working in small groups to conduct their research and then have them come together to have a staged debate about power and government, or a “panel talk” about the power in the particular situations they researched.