Kathleen McKenna Hewtson

Pride of Eagles Kathleen McKenna Hewtson

After the near-catastrophic events of the Russo-Japanese War and the 1905 Revolution, the years 1907-13 passed relatively peacefully in Russia as Chief Minister Stolypin steered the country away from war and civil disruption, and toward industrialization and economic prosperity. However, in Tsarskoe Selo, the closeted domestic life of the Imperial Family was far from calm. While Emperor Nicholas II cloistered himself away in his study, Empress Alexandra struggled with her own chronic ill-health and that of the light of her life, the Tsarevich Alexei, whose hemophilia threatened the future of the House of Romanov as it approached its tercentenary. The only person holding out the promise of a cure for Alexei's illness was a wandering holy man from Siberia called Rasputin, whose wild and licentious ways stoked outrage and hatred against him among ruling circles every bit as much as his apparently miraculous healing powers built the Empress' devotion. As Rasputin put it, so long as the Romanovs kept faith with him, all would be well; should they be involved in his death, they too would be destroyed. And then there was the Empress' constant companion, Anya Vyroubova, whose guileless appearance and behavior masked an astute and scheming nature. Her alliance with Rasputin was to undermine yet further the public reputation of the Empress, and therefore ultimately that of the Emperor himself and of his dynasty. All six volumes are (planned) as follows:1. 'The Funeral Bride' 1884-1894 - published November 20152. 'The Empress of Tears' 1895-1904 - published March 20163. 'The Shaken Throne' 1904-1907 - published July 20164. 'The Pride of Eagles' 1907-1913 - published May 20175. 'No Greater Crown' 1914-1917 - published September 20186. ' The Far Kingdom' 1917 - 1918 - published December 2020