Helen Azar is a librarian, translator, and historian, and founder of the popular Russian imperial history blog, TheRomanovFamily.com. She has published eight books based on the personal writings of Russia's last imperial family. She lives in Australia with her husband.
George Hawkins is a teacher in South Auckland, New Zealand, where he lives with his wife and children. Fluent in several languages, he has embarked on translating the letters and diaries of Nicholas II's family.
"Helen Azar provides a wonderful service for all those interested in the Romanovs with her translations of their letters and diaries. Here it is the turn of Maria, the third daughter of Nicholas and Alexandra, and her lively personality shines from these pages. Historians have always described Maria as a loving and friendly girl, but in her diaries we see evidence of a sparkly sense of humour too. The story in which she got stuck in snow in a graveyard is told with true comedian's style. And I love her descriptions of the "officer who stinks and is afraid of dressings" and the one who is 'fat and not too smart.' There is more personality here than in Olga's and Tatiana's diaries and letters, in my opinion, and I absolutely loved reading it. No wonder Nicholas said Maria's letters made him laugh! Helen Azar and her coauthor on this volume, George Hawkins, do an admirable job of working out who or what is being referred to, which is no mean feat given the Russians' love of nicknames, and she adds footnoted explanations of games and ceremonies referred to. Her introduction is a summing-up of the Romanovs' fate, and a vivid description of the lovely personality of Maria herself. Ultimately, of course, the book is very poignant. Maria is trying to put on a brave face in Tobolsk when she writes 'All in all things are pretty good.' There are scarcely any complaints or signs of fear. She sounds remarkable, and reading this book really underscores the tragedy of what ultimately happened to the family."--Gill Paul, author of The Lost Daughter and The Secret Wife
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