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Michael Roman Profile picture
Michael Roman
@michael_roman18
Author of "The Two Lives Of Grand Duke Michael" (Assisted by Sidney Reilly 'Ace of Spies') #sydneyreilly #aceofspies #granddukemichael
Jun 19, 2020 • 35 tweets • 9 min read
War time sketch of Vera Lynn at Imphal ...India, by my Dad who was recovering from wounds and Malaria.

Learning today about the death of probably our greatest Dame…Vera Lynn, I was prompted to look at my Dad’s wartime sketches. He was posted to India in 1941 and served in the Indian Army in the REME corps as an artificer ranked as Sergeant operating in both India and Burma campaigns where he was awarded the Burma Star.
May 31, 2020 • 42 tweets • 9 min read
The importance of St. Nicholas Johnson.

Nicholas Johnson was a key friend and colleague in the life of Grand Duke Michael who from being teenage pals, sharing college and army training, to his gruesome assassination alongside Michael during the summer of 1918 in Perm (Siberia). Nicholas was born in Russia in 1878, the brother of two elder sisters, Elisabeth, and Anna. He was the son of Captain Nicholas A. Johnson, an English guard at the Imperial Court, & Louise (von) Kreisler Johnson, a German music and singing teacher at Court.
May 26, 2020 • 24 tweets • 7 min read
The exiled last tsar, Grand Duke Michael lived in the UK at Knebworth House.

Michael Romanov, Knebworth's most Royal resident?

Russia’s last ever Emperor was a popular resident in Knebworth.

#romanov #granddukemichael #sidneyreilly But Michael was not always destined for the throne & in fact spent the year before WW1 exiled at Knebworth House near Luton in the UK

Grand Duke Michael Romanov, the story goes, was Emperor for just a day after his brother Nicholas abdicated in March 1917 amid internal turmoil.
May 20, 2020 • 44 tweets • 9 min read
The Life of Reilly - Sidney Reilly 1874 – 1925

The real James Bond superspy modeled from Ian Fleming.

Georgi Rosenblum was born in Poland or Odessa from conflicting accounts, on 24th March 1874. His parents were Jewish, and his father a wealthy landowner, his mother a pianist. Details of his education are uncertain. Nevertheless, He had an exceptional command of languages, including English, Russian, Polish, German, and French."

Rosenblum fled Russia, appearing in Brazil in his late teens for reasons that remain obscure.
Apr 27, 2020 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
Once again, this Tuesday evening on Freeview @TalkingPicsTV 9.00.p.m. we will be entertained by the real James Bond Sam Neill as he creates Sidney Reilly ACE OF SPIES. The sophisticated charming and ruthless Sam Neil shows his acting skills like no other in the James Bond theme. A nefarious man of exceptional ability…. and that was how well Sam Neill portrayed the master spy.

Looking back at the last episode 10 AFTER MOSCOW
1918: Reilly arrived back in London after a dangerous journey across Scandinavia where he used disguises & wits.

@TwoPaddocks