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A rescue attempt of the Romanov Imperial family (sponsored by the Germans hoping to stir disorder in Russia) was partially successful. While Tsar Nicholas, his wife, son, and eldest daughter were killed, his three youngest daughters, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia survived. Tatiana, age 21, declared herself empress and is leading a war to oust the Bolsheviks.
1919: The Romanov Rising, an alternate history novel by Tom Kratman, Kacey Ezell, and Justin Watson, picks up where their earlier work, The Romanov Rescue left off.
Tatiana I, Empress of all the Russias must make that claim a fact. Isolated in Tosbolsk, Siberia with a small faction of loyal supporters, she has to survive the inevitable Bolshevik counterattack when it comes. Then, she has to unite the rest of the anti-Bolshevik factions behind her banner and drive the enemy from Russia.
The novel follows Tatiana, her sisters, and her supporters as they rally the world to her cause. They repel a Bolshevik thrust at Tobolsk — simultaneously launching an expedition to Yekaterinburg to rescue other royal family members. Tatiana dispatches her sisters to Britain to assure their safety and recruit allies. Their uncle, King George V, invited them.
It also explores Russian and world reaction to the new Empress. The arrival of the princesses in the US, especially Anastasia, garners American sympathy. The various White Russian factions are faced with the prospect of a new Tsarina — one promising a constitutional, western-style monarchy instead of an autarky.
1919: The Romanov Rising is a modern fairy tale. Its premise is utterly implausible. Assume the Romanov family has been rescued with Tatiana surviving to replace Catherine the Great as the first female empress. The odds of this then-21-year-old woman favoring a British-style constitutional monarchy based on American principles would be minuscule. The chances she would get advisors talented enough to overcome Trotsky’s war machine are even smaller.
It does not matter. The story is compelling. People need fairy tales and myths. Their nature is such that they relate a larger truth, regardless of implausibility. This novel shares that characteristic. It is filled with heroic storybook princesses, valiant knights (or their twentieth-century equivalents) who become fearless champions, and foul villains who deserve overcoming. On top of that, it is a ripping good adventure that offers a world readers wish could actually happen.
My advice is to read the book and enjoy the story. It is too much fun to skip.
“1919: The Romanov Rising,” by Tom Kratman, Kacey Ezell, and Justin Watson, Baen Books, December 2024, 448 pages, $28.00 (Hardcover), $9.99 (Ebook)
This review was written by Mark Lardas, who writes at Ricochet as Seawriter. Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City, TX. His website is marklardas.com.
Discussion (3)
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Actually, regardless of her real beliefs about the divine right of emperors, Tatiana openly “favoring a British-style constitutional monarchy” is the believable part. If we assume she has the support of the imperialists, she would still need to attract the democrats and moderate leftists to her cause. Furthermore, it would be natural for her to model her government after the world’s most successful — and still standing — imperial house, Windsor.
However, while in the real world the anti-Bolshevik forces might accept a young woman as a useful figurehead, she would never be granted any real command authority.
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Did something happen that wrote Catherine out of history as well?
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And there we go.