Welcome to the first full English translation of the N. A. Sokolov’s book “The Murder of the Tsar’s Family”(original Russian title: Ubiistvo tsarskoi sem’i) based on the documents of the judicial investigation into the murder of the Russian Tsar and his family.
Multiple sources confirm that no full English version is available in print or electronic form.
Translated with DeepL Translator, the AI-first translation platform. https://www.deepl.com/en/products/translator
The source: The 1990 Moscow Edition, first domestic Soviet/Russian publication, with the original publisher’s foreword.
Publishers: «Советский писатель» (Soviet Writer, Moscow) jointly with the Italian-Soviet publishing house «Сирин» (Sirin). Some listings note Moscow or occasionally St. Petersburg distribution.
- Year: 1990.
- Pages: 365 (Wikipedia); some copies/listings note 368 pages with illustrations/photos.
- Print run (тираж): 200,000 copies—a very large number, signaling official backing and strong anticipated demand.
- ISBN: 5-265-02231-7.
- Design/illustrations: Artists Mikhail Gurov and Andrey Evstigneev handled the оформление (design). The edition reproduces photographic documents from the 1925 Berlin original despite their sometimes poor quality, explicitly because of their historical importance.
- Format: Hardback, includes Sokolov’s materials plus a significant publisher’s foreword.
Free PDF link of the exact 1990 edition is available online and fully accessible from both Russia and the USA. You can read / download it here
It is hosted on the Russian historical library ImWerden (imwerden.de/publ-4728).
– No registration, paywall, or geo-blocks — works instantly from Russia (e.g., via Yandex or any Russian ISP) and the USA (or anywhere).
– Scanned and prepared as an electronic reproduction; the site notes it preserves the original layout while allowing text copying.
This is not an official publisher e-book (LitRes etc. sell paid modern reprints), but it is a complete, faithful digitisation of the 1990 print run that has been publicly available for years on this open historical archive. The core Sokolov text itself entered the public domain long ago (author died 1924), and no active copyright complaints appear on the hosting site.
First publication abroad
– 1924 (Paris, French edition): The earliest version of Sokolov’s investigation appeared in French as *Nicolas Sokoloff. Enquête judiciaire sur l’assassinat de la Famille Impériale Russe* (published in Paris; some sources note Payot or Plon). This was a posthumous (partial) edition of his materials and is widely regarded as the first publication of the work abroad.
– 1925 (Berlin, first Russian-language edition): The full Russian text, *Убийство Царской Семьи. Из записок судебного следователя Н. А. Соколова*, was published in Berlin by the “Slovo” (Слово) publishing house. This is the classic first Russian edition (often dated 1925 on the title page or copyright).It and was printed after Sokolov’s death (with possible minor editing by others).
- John F. O’Conor’s The Sokolov Investigation of the Alleged Murder of the Russian Imperial Family (1972, Souvenir Press / other imprints): This is a partial translation of sections from Sokolov’s work, with commentary. It is available in physical book format (used copies on sites like Amazon, AbeBooks, eBay) and digitally via Internet Archive (borrowable or viewable).2
Related English Resources:
- Robert Wilton’s The Last Days of the Romanovs (1920): This book draws heavily on Sokolov’s dossier/investigation materials. It is in the public domain and freely available as a PDF on sites like Project Gutenberg, Internet Archive, or public-library.uk.23
- Other books (e.g., by Michael Diterikhs) and secondary sources reference or quote from Sokolov’s findings but are not full translations.