Alexander, Grand Duke of Russia (1866-1933), grandson of Tsar Nicholas I, and brother-in-law of Tsar Nicholas II, served as a naval officer during the last years of the Romanov dynasty. Married to Grand Duchess Xenia, he was the father-in-law of Prince Felix Youssoupov, one of the men who helped to murder Rasputin, the 'Holy Man', whose influence over Empress Alexandra did so much to bring about the fall of the last Tsar. After the Russian revolution and the fall of the dynasty Alexander settled in France, where he published two volumes of memoirs, 'Once a Grand Duke' and 'Always a Grand Duke', as well as a commentary on the state of European monarchy during the 1920s and 1930s, 'Twilight of Royalty'. Essential reading on the period, these three books are now published together in one volume for the first time, with a short introduction by John Van der Kiste.