Anastasia : The Riddle of Anna Anderson

by Peter Kurth

Release Date: 30 June, 1985

Edition: Paperback

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Oh, we're never all going to agree, but...

In support of Mr Kurth's scrupulously researched and fascinating opus, it is worth pointing out that the world's media seized all too readily on the results of "Fraulein Unbekannt's" bowel tissue(!) Ok, so those of us who were convinced by this book would definitely have triumphantly seized upon a positive DNA match between Anna Anderson & the Romanov bones as the last scientific word, but all the same... Those DNA tests not only contradicted all the other evidence pointing to Anna's authenticity, they contradicted each other. Three DNA tests were done - two very strongly resulting in a DNA match between Anna and a great nephew of Franzizka Shanzkowzka, but the third matching neither with the Romanov's NOR the Shanzozkowzka's. Whilst not proving Anna was Grand Duchess Anastasia, it certainly proves these results simply are not reliable, and, yup folks, this mystery is far from over.

what a remarkable story!

Kurth's satifsying book on Anna Anderson indeed leaves one puzzled in light of the subsequent DNA testing. I read this book before the tests were made, found it convincing, and still do. It seems that a more interesting question than whether this woman was the Grand Duchess Anastasia, is the question of why an obscure Polish woman would undertake a life of overwhelming suffering by claiming to be whom she apparently was not, since, whatever the truth, this affair was more than a charade performed by a charlatan. There remains a mystical element deep within the mystery of Anna Anderson, one which I suspect DNA testing is incapable of addressing. Kurth's exposition of his subject is well done, if a bit over-engaged. His love for the mystery of this woman over the mystery of her identity, for the recovery of the lost, and an almost fin-de-siecle ministering to the Romanov legend, makes the discourse a little florid in spots. But the prose is generally kempt, Kurth has a genuine intelligence, and the story is a captivating one. Kurth's humility in face of the declarations of science is admirable and makes one the more sympathetic, and baffled, by the outcome. This is a first-rate read, however, and I suspect history has not entirely played out the story of Anna-Anastasia.