Thirteen Years at the Russian Court (Russia Observed)

by Pierre Gilliard

Release Date: June, 1970

Edition: Hardcover

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where is it

i ordered it throught ayerpub an never got it. delivery terms : 60 days. reply of amazon : sorry, too late, we don't care after this period, thank you for the money

Self righteous, tiresome, and untruthful

This man, Gilliard, who was once described by the Danish minister to Berlin as "the lickspittle of the Grand Duke of Hesse," would never have dared publish this book if his Imperial employers had not died. Look what happened to the present Queen Elizabeth's governess, "Crawfie" when she published a seemingly innocous little book about her royal charges; Banished from her 'Grace and Favour' home, banished from Royal circles and never spoken of in Royal circles again.

Sadly Gilliard's book is the quicksand in which so many other authors sink, including, I have to say it, Robert Massie in his "Nicholas and Alexandra." Gilliard presents himself as a kind of paragon, and he often puts himself as an observer in situations where he could not have possibly been.

Of course, he could hardly expect to sell the book if he declared himself to be the very minor member of the household he actually was, so, he 'embroiders' his story to appear to be a close confidant of both the Tsar and the Tsarina. Grotesquely many many historians appear to have been taken in by him. Don't you be!