On 17 February, 1920, a young woman was rescued from a Berlin canal and taken to a local asylum.
Her body bore the scars of bullet and bayonet wounds.
For a long time she refused to give her name, and was known as Fraulein Unbekannt (Miss Unknown).
When she did declare herself — as the Grand Duchess Anastasia, youngest daughter of the murdered Romanovs — she became the centre of a storm of controversy that still continues after her death in 1983.
Peter Kurth’s brilliant and meticulously researched account shows that the evidence that Anna Anderson was Anastasia is in the end overwhelming.
Nevertheless the extraordinary secrecy which still shrouds some of the key evidence suggests that, as her uncle the Grand Duke of Hesse wrote, an investigation of her identity could be ‘dangerous’.
‘Anastasia’ is a fascinating study of one of the world’s greatest mysteries.
‘A wholly gripping book at the end of which it is hard to believe that the Grand Duchess’s identity has not been proved’¬ – The Times
‘It is, literally, an incredible story, but Peter Kurth makes it utterly convincing...a compellingly readable book’ – Irish Times
‘One of the most intriguing mysteries of the twentieth century. Peter Kurth’s is the first serious attempt to unravel it’ – Sunday Telegraph
Peter Kurth has been a journalist and author for forty years, specialising in biography and Soviet history. He has written for publications such as Vanity Fair, The New York Times Book Review and Harper’s Hazaar, and has contributed to Salon.com. His books include Isadora: A Sensational Life and Tsar: The Lost World of Nicholas and Alexandra.