The Russian Court at Sea

A gripping account of the Romanovs' choppy passage into exile. Welch's detective work has produced a book that is wonderfully witty and sad by turns. * Mail on Sunday *
The book's readability and telling use of detail are splendid. * Spectator *
A quirky and gripping vignette of 20th-century Russian history. * Sunday Times *
A gripping account of the Romanovs choppy passage into exile. Welch s detective work has produced a book that is wonderfully witty and sad by turns. * Mail on Sunday *
Yes, it's been told before, but the 1919 exile of the Romanov family from Russia, in which they sailed on HMS Marlborough, is a splendidly exotic story that is well worth another airing; and Frances Welsh does it grippingly here, with lots of details I hadn't come across before. I loved to read of the goods they brought with them, including rolled-up Rembrandt paintings, Faberge eggs and other treasures of the sort. What a pilgrimage, to be sure. * Sunday Telegraph *
A fascinating, poignant portrait of a bizarre collection of people caught up in the chaos of their exodus" * The Irish Times *
A voyage of delight - revealing, fascinating and by turns shocking and amusing - a story so extraordinary that it reads like a novel. * Lancashire Evening Post *
Brooks gets inside the head, explains how the brain works... it's like frieze-framing a novel and discussing the motivation of the characters. It's fascinating... * Evening Standard *