It's hard to imagine, but this short book (sub-titled "The story of the Englishman who taught the children of the last Tsar") is mostly dull as dishwater. Sydney Gibbes was apparently a very strange dude; he studied theology at Cambridge, but didn't feel he had a true calling to the Church, and didn't know what else to do, so off he went to Russia in 1901 to tutor children. Things did not go well with the first two families that employed him; both mothers found reason to dismiss him, but nothing is made very clear about the nature of their complaints. His later explanation of both instances was that the mother were over-indulgent and would not let him impose his stricter standards on their precious boys. He shuttled back and forth between Russia and Yorkshire for several years, with only part-time employment, until 1908, when he was somehow hired by the Tsarina (who had not met him, nor checked his references too closely, apparently) to teach the Imperial children. This should have been fascinating stuff, and it seems the author had a fair amount of primary source material to consult, including contemporary correspondence and later accounts by the man himself (he lived to be 85, and eventually became a rather quirky priest in the Russian Orthodox Church). Yet his story never really catches fire here.
Reviewed March 2018 ( )

This small book is a short account of the life of Sydney Gibbes, who was tutor to the children of Tsar Nicholas II both while he ruled, and afterwards during the family's exile in Tobolsk (he was not allowed to join them in their incarceration in Ekaterinburg, however). It also covers his life afterwards, when in late middle age he converted to Russian Orthodoxy and became Father Nicholas, the only English abbot in the Orthodox church. I found the writing style slightly odd. There was very little analysis and the narrative seemed a little too simple (while accepting this is from a publishers called Short Books). It started abruptly, and there are no chapters, just one continuous narrative. No sources cited, and no bibliography. There are a few photos, but very poorly reproduced. So, all in all, this gave rise to mild curiosity in its subject matter (he came across to me as pretty unlikeable, though), and no more. 3/5 and that's pushing it. ( )

What an interesting little book this was. At only 140 pages I was not sure how much I would learn about this Mr Gibbes who taught the children of the last Tsar of Russia for ten years. Given that there seems to have not been a large amout of information to go on I found the text was well put together and very readable. I have read other books on the Romanovs and their tragic end and I found this one offers a unique perspective of the final months. Overall an enjoyable biography. ( )