"...for the last time the former rulers of their own home had gathered to fervently pray, tearfully, and on bended knee, imploring that the Lord help and intercede for them in all of their sorrows and misfortunes." Thus the Archpriest Afanasy Belyaev described the faith and piety of the Russian Imperial family, whom he served as priest and confessor, on the occasion of the Tsarevich's thirteenth birthday. These selected excerpts from the chaplain's diary open a window into the souls of the now sainted Royal Family and the struggles endured in their first five months of confinement following the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II in early 1917. Russian cultural historian Marilyn Pfeifer Swezey sets the diary in its historical context and offers an epilogue to complete the story of the Romanov's journey to martyrdom at the hands of a Bolshevik firing squad in a Siberian basement. Also included is a short life of Fr Afanasy and biographical information regarding the various persons appearing in the work. This anniversary edition has been copiously illustrated throughout with colour and black and white photos (some rarely or never published before) as well as charts and maps. AUTHOR: Archpriest Afanasy Belyaev was the father confessor of the Russian Imperial Family during their first five months of confinement following Nicholas II's abdication in early 1917. Marilyn Pfeifer Swezey is a historian specialising in Russian decorative arts and cultural history, as well as the Russian spiritual and liturgical tradition. Archpriest Victor Potapov is rector of St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Over the course of three decades, he ran the "Religion in Our Life" program on Voice of America. 6 colour and 25 b/w photographs, 4 b/w illustrations
