The Russian Romanov dynasty came to an abrupt end of the night of July 17, 1918, when the imperial family was executed by the Bolsheviks. Or did it? Compelling new evidence reveals that Tsarevich Alexei, the fourteen-year-old son of Nicholas II and Alexandra and heir to the Russian throne, escaped the bloodshed and was adopted by a peasant family. Russia's heir to the throne grew up under the name of Vasily Filatov. He became an apprentice shoemaker and eventually a high-school geography teacher.

In this volume, three respected scientists provide a convincing, thorough account of how the executioners covered up the fact that the body of the heir to the throne was missing. Drawing on official records and documents from Russian archives and the grisly personal accounts of soldiers who took part in the execution, the authors offer compelling evidence that Alexei Romanov and Vasily Filatov were the same person.

Filatov died in 1988. Now his wife and children have brought his story to the world. Personal photographs throughout the book illustrate the striking physical resemblances between members of the Romanov and Filatov families.