Pay in installments of $4.25 with
,
and
Shipping Estimate
USA
- USA
- CAN
- USA
- CAN
Ships within 48 hours · Estimated delivery Jul 27 - Aug 1
Promo Codes Available:
For Your Every Summer RSVP, with Code: SUMMER15
Description
The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia" A] superb history. In these thrilling, highly readable pages, we meet Rasputin, the shaggy, lecherous mystic; we visit the gilded ballrooms of the doomed aristocracy; and we pause in the sickroom of little Alexei, the hemophiliac heir who, with his parents and four sisters, would be murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918." The Wall Street Journal Here is the tumultuous, heartrending, true story of the Romanovs at once an intimate portrait of Russia's
" A] superb history.... In these thrilling, highly readable pages, we meet Rasputin, the shaggy, lecherous mystic...; we visit the gilded ballrooms of the doomed aristocracy; and we pause in the sickroom of little Alexei, the hemophiliac heir who, with his parents and four sisters, would be murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918." --The Wall Street Journal Here is the tumultuous, heartrending, true story of the Romanovs--at once an intimate portrait of Russia's last royal family and a gripping account of its undoing. Using captivating photos and compelling first person accounts, award-winning author Candace Fleming (Amelia Lost; The Lincolns) deftly maneuvers between the imperial family's extravagant lives and the plight of Russia's poor masses, making this an utterly mesmerizing read as well as a perfect resource for meeting Common Core standards. "An exhilarating narrative history of a doomed and clueless family and empire." --Jim Murphy, author of Newbery Honor Books An American Plague and The Great Fire "For readers who regard history as dull, Fleming's extraordinary book is proof positive that, on the contrary, it is endlessly fascinating, absorbing as any novel, and the stuff of an altogether memorable reading experience." --Booklist, Starred "Marrying the intimate family portrait of Heiligman's Charles and Emma with the politics and intrigue of Sheinkin's Bomb, Fleming has outdone herself with this riveting work of narrative nonfiction that appeals to the imagination as much as the intellect." --The Horn Book, Starred Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult LiteratureWinner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Nonfiction
A Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
A YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award Finalist
Winner of the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade Books
Published: 07/08/2014
ISBN: 9780375867828
Pages: 292
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.40w x 1.10d
Award: Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award - Nominee
Award: Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award - Honor Book
Award: Tayshas Reading - Commended
Award: Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens - Recommended
Award: Rhode Island Teen Book Award - Nominee
Award: Golden Kite - Winner
Award: Orbis Pictus Award - Winner
Award: Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards - Winner
Award: L.A. Times Book Prize - Winner
Award: Cybils - Winner
Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 04/28/2014
Kirkus Reviews 06/01/2014
School Library Journal 06/01/2014 pg. 144
Booklist 06/01/2014 pg. 79
Horn Book Magazine 07/01/2014 pg. 115
Shelf Awareness 07/15/2014
Voice of Youth Advocates 08/01/2014 - Recommended - Hard To Beat
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 09/01/2014 pg. 22 - Book Of Special Distinction
PW Best Children's Books 11/03/2014 pg. 46
PW Children's Starred Reviews 12/01/2014 pg. 109
SLJ's Best Books 12/01/2014 pg. 27
Kirkus Best Young-Adult Books 12/01/2014 pg. 60
Booklist Ed Choice Youth 01/01/2015 pg. 15
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2015 - Outstanding, Noteworthy In Style
Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 167384 / Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia
Reading Level: 7.2 / Interest Level: Middle Grade Plus / Point Value: 12
Shipping Notes
- Free Standard Shipping on $100+ Orders to the USA.
- Except Preorder products are shipped in 48 hours.
- Delivery to the USA:
- Standard Shipping : 3-10 business days
- If time is of the essence, please consider selecting expedited delivery for faster service.
Exchange/Return Notes
- We offer a 30-day return/exchange service after receiving.
- Final sale items are not eligible for returns or exchanges.
- To process your return/exchange, please contact us at [email protected]
- Please click here for more details>>> Return & Exchange Policy
4.3 ★★★★★
Based on 23 reviews
Sort
Product Reviews
★★★★★ 4
Eyes Wide Open (with a few omissions)
Format: Audiobook
Thought provoking and great insights but with a few material omissions.
As others have noted this is an extremely thought provoking book. Perhaps the most disturbing is the discussion of war gaming a war with China and in most every Chinese initiated war China wins. A close runner-up was the lack of widespread commitment of other senate members to be as fully informed as possible on the military side of military affairs including budgets for specific projects.
It's hard to document the claim that two issues were serious omissions but I think there were.
There are seemingly minor details that are important Robert McNamara worked for Ford not GM. This is important for decisions at Ford by McNamara's accolates took Ford down to one of its smallest market share of the postwar years. McNamara gave Ford the Falcon , his successors brought out the Mustang. His arrogance cost billions and thousands of lives.
McCain recognized the political folly of the initial "leased" Boeing Replacement Tanker Program but that is not discussed. Neither is the continuing debacle of the program, felony convictions/pleas of top Boeing execs and the Pentagon's civilian chief of procurement all associated with the ill-fated tanker program. Declared a near emergency need at the turn of the century, twenty later the tankers can not perform the mission and tens of billions over budget.
To put the Tanker Program debacle in perspective, In July 1962 the US achieved its first orbital space flight and its first Moon landing 7 years later. In contrast the replacement tanker program has been in process Boeing was awarded the contract in 2002 , 19 years later and the tankers are not fully operational. Along the way both Boeing and a top civilian dod official did some hard time on felony corruption convictions/pleas.
The author notes that in the event of an outbreak of war between the US and China the US ships must get far offshore to have even a chance of survival, well beyond the range of existing carrier based aircraft to attack Chinese forces. The lack of tankers, short range attack aircraft and light loads prevents the Navy from going deep inland.
Part of the problem is that the Navy was induced to scrap the long range, extremely deadly F-14B and F-14X and replace them with the slower, shorter range , less carrying capacity F-18s (also made by Boeing) . The Navy had available at the time the F-14X upgrade program which would have converted the F-14 to an even more deadly fighter / bomber and equipped them with a follow-on to the Phoenix missiles, so badly needed to defend the fleet against airborne launched cruise missiles. In addition there were further upgrades in the works to give the Phoenix missiles extremely valuable capabilities. A further indication of the suspicious pattern is that DOD required that all F-14 tooling and parts be destroyed. The claim was made that the F-14s were maintenance hogs. Partly true but largely fixed with the F-14X digital conversion and new engines. While the maintenance hours per flight hour were problematical, when looked at in the big picture they were a rounding error in the 6,000 or so sailors in the Battle Group working 10-15 hour days and the thousands onshore supporting the effort.
Does this matter, well yesterday the Chinese ran a practice attack on a US carrier as about 15 aircraft approached within 250 nautical miles of the carrier. Most certainly within range to launch enough hypersonic cruise missiles to virtually assure the carrier would be taken out of action or sent to the bottom of the ocean. As the author notes today's strategy requires that the carriers flee the area and standoff about 1,000 miles. Faster, much longer range F-14x aircraft with the next generation Phoenix would significantly reduce this threat. They would also do the same against large Russian aircraft carrying many cruise missiles.
The F-35s will help overcome this deficiency but until they are fully operational and our Naval tanker capabilities redeveloped US capabilities are seriously compromised.
The author makes many great observations regarding deficiencies in procurement management, in the Pentagon , Congress and White House.
Examples discussed include the Army's failed attempt to acquire a new pistol. The 500 page request for proposals and flawed competition would be a joke were in not for the fact that the taxpayers precious dollars were wasted in the failed effort.
An illustration of how perverted the situation has become was illustrated today with a note the the US Air Force had issued an RFP for a "modesty curtain" to be installed on our ancient B-52's because there were now female personnel flying missions. This is a need that should be solvable by a few individuals over a bottle of wine who would probably come up with better ideas, reviewed by an engineer on Monday and perhaps fabricated in one of the base shops.
As others have noted it was USAF Col John Boyd who revolutionized the air to air combat, was shunned by top Brass while at the Pentagon and left to his own devices prepared his famous day long lecture on Winning and Loosing Wars that in turn helped rewrite the USMC land battle doctrine. Most all of this work done out of sight of his "leaders" .
The author might have also given credit to leaders like Admiral Tom Connolly who sacrificed his career to save Naval aviation from the terminally flawed F-111B as an example of the character and courage needed in the Pentagon, Congress and the White House today and into the future.
The author's descriptions of the challenges posed by an aggressive and expansive China should be taken to heart by every American. Unless we stop treating military procurement as a Chicago like spoils system and manage both what we buy and what we pay for it we are inviting Chinese military challenges and placing an even greater financial millstone around the necks of American taxpayers and their future generations.
Overall , not perfect but a very important must read
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2021
★★★★★ 5
Add this to every DoD Reading List!
Format: Kindle
There were so many great excerpts throughout the book that my highlights filled 16 pages in MS Word. This is a must read for all Pentagon personnel, those in operational commands, the acquisition community, and defense industry. Chris' insights as McCain's advisor were invaluable to understand the nuances and competing incentives of the DoD, industry, and Congressional perspectives.
"The problem is that America is playing a losing game. Over many decades we have built our military around small numbers of large, expensive, exquisite, heavily manned, and hard to replace platforms that struggle to close the kill chain as one battle network. China, meanwhile, has built large numbers of multi million dollar weapons to find and attack America’s small numbers of exponentially more expensive military platforms."
"It requires a sweeping redesign of the American military: from a military built around small numbers of large, expensive, exquisite, heavily manned, and hard to replace platforms to a military built around large numbers of smaller, lower cost, expendable, and highly autonomous machines."
"New technologies alone will not save us. We need new thinking — an ambitious effort to reimagine the ends, ways, and means of US military power, as well as the role of our allies in this effort — to succeed in a future world where America’s military superiority will likely erode further if China’s military technological development continues."
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2020
★★★★★ 5
The Real Arms Race
Format: Kindle
I am a life-long Democrat, supposed to bristle at the very idea of military spending. Brose's book convinced me the problem is not how much we spend, but what we're spending it on. "Kill chain" is military-speak for the three phases of combat -- figuring out what's going on, deciding what to do about it, and taking effective action. Brose spells out how technology changed all three phases while the Defense Department and its minders in Congress weren't paying attention. The result has been to significantly undermine our military preparedness and, more importantly, the ultimate goal of deterrence. For all the money we're spending, Brose shows how it's mostly on the wrong things, i.e., large, expensive platforms that are only incremental improvements over prior systems designed for different times. He shows how the military-industrial complex, abetted by a Congress invested in the status quo, is arming our military with technology inferior to what you'd find in a modern automobile. The development of the Internet may have been kick-started by the defense department back in the 1960s, but the information revolution that followed largely left the U.S. military behind. Meanwhile, potential adversaries are compensating for relatively lower defense budgets by exploiting emerging technologies that could change the character of war, raising multiple ethical, geo-political, and governance issues. The Kill Chain is compelling, scary, and must-reading for our political leaders and all intelligent voters.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2020
★★★★★ 5
Well written and thought-out approach to change DoD acquisition
Format: Hardcover
I'm a Navy acquisition manager and former Navy officer. I very strongly recommend this book as required reading for Pentagon (especially flag officers and SESs), congressional staffs, defense contractors and those who would be defense contractors, Silicon Valley companies, and everyone who cares about the future of the United States. The author expertly characterizes the current world situation and the issues with DoD acquisition practices. He is not brutal about it, but fair. He explains the background and history behind how we got to where we are, and identifies a path forward. I believe that following the approach recommended is very hard, but very worth while. The author worked for Senator McCain for almost ten years, and it is clear that this book benefits from his experience.
My only gripe (and it is a minor one) is that very occasionally the author allows his feelings about Trump to manifest in a negative way. This is often justified, but it shouldn't be so one-sided. Nevertheless, this book is must-read, and deserves five stars.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2021
★★★★★ 4
Very Educational
Format: Paperback
I enjoyed the book. I wish the average American would take more of an interest in these kinds of issues facing the U S in the China sea region of the world.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2024