This Crown is Mine: History of Pretenders for the Crown, Civil War, and Foreign Invasion in Seventeenth-Century Russia

by Benjamin Levin

In the early 17th century, Russia went through a foreign invasion and the nation's first civil war - a time so horrible that it acquired its own name in Russian "The Times of Troubles". Internal and external forces came together to create a storm of such magnitude that it threatened the very existence of the nation. The country lay in ruins and a foreign army occupied Moscow. For a while it seemed that Russia would never become an independent nation again, but the Russian people found enough strength and courage to stop the civil war and unite against foreign invaders. Two young people played a most important role in these events - a pretender to the Russian throne who called himself Tsarevich Dmitry, son of the late Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible, and Marina Mnishek, the girl with whom he fell in love while on the run from then Russian Tsar, Boris Godunov. Dmitry invaded Russia with a small band of adventurers and defeated Godunov. He and Marina were married and crowned in the Kremlin. Two weeks after their marriage, Dmitry was killed in a riot and Marina was exiled to the far North. But she escaped, and took part in a civil war herself. Twice she came to the walls of Moscow with an army and two different men by her side, fighting for her crown. This is a true story how a young man of uncertain ancestry and a young woman from a family of Polish nobility forced history to engrave their names into the list of Tsar's families of Russia. In their adventures, fights, travels, love stories, and turns of fate throwing them into the depths of despair and raising them to the heights of power and wealth, this couple lived more exciting lives than millions of other human beings put together.

608 pages, Paperback

First published April 3, 2012

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Levin, you get 5 stars for writing a book on the Time of Troubles, because (1) this subject is poorly documented at affordable prices in English, and (2) this book is both informative and entertaining.

A lot of people associate "Tsar of Russia" with "Romanov" (thanks to 20th century Fox's Anastasia), but the Romanov dynasty didn't properly ascend the throne until 1613. Before then, the Rurik family ruled. Remember Ivan IV "The Terrible"? He was a Rurik. Then he killed his son, so when Ivan died, Ivan's second son became Tsar, followed by Ivan's close advisor Boris Godunov.

The problem was that Ivan had a third son, Dmitri, who was only a kid when Boris Godunov was elected Tsar (yeah, elections, who'd have thought?). Dmitri died by (?) accidentally stabbing himself while playing with a knife. Word to the wise Shakespearian/WarOfTheRoses fans: Boris is the Russian version of Richard III.

So the same way the world was nuts about the idea of Anastasia having survived the Romanov massacre, the late 15th century was open to the possibility of little Dmitri having survived. Enter Fake Dmitri #1. Yes, there were several fake Dmitris. This book tells their story, which ends with the election of Mikhail Romanov, the 16-year-old Tsar/dynasty starter.

However, the Dmitris are only part of the tale. Really, the author focuses on the person who followed the Dmitri saga closer than anyone else at that time: Marina Mniszech. Also Xenia Godunov makes several cameos because why not (it's like she's in every pillaged/ravaged monastery, what is up with that??)

So yes, this is a good book. It has some flaws, mainly with the author's choices regarding characterization. I have a pretty hard time believing that Xenia fell in love with the man who was largely responsible for the death of her entire family. I'd accept that she was raped or that she chose to sleep with him to make it out of her situation alive, etc. but love? Yeah, no, sorry. Just my two cents.

Verdict: 5 stars. I can't speak to the accuracy, but it was consistent with everything else I've read on the Time of Troubles, and the characterization made the story very engaging. Recommended even if you're not a Russian History nerd.