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The Romanovs: Autocrats of All the Russias
For three centuries - beginning with the accession of Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov in 1613 - the Romanov Dynasty ruled Russia. Its reign ended with the execution of Nicholas II and Alexandra in the early 20th century. Noted Russian scholar W. Bruce Lincoln has portrayed the achievement, significance and high drama of the Dynasty as no previous book has done. His use of rare archival materials has allowed him to present a portrait of the Romanovs based on their own writings and those of the persons who knew them.
Preface
Acknowledgments
A Note on Russian Names and Dates
Prologue
Muscovite beginnings (1613-1689)
Tsars and tsarinas
In the eye of the storm
The politics of Muscovy
The rise of an empire (1689-1796)
Eighteenth-century emperors & empresses
An imperial city in the making
From debauchery to philosophy
Imperial aspirations
Empire triumphant (1796-1894)
The imperial dynasty
The new faces of St. Petersburg
From golden age to iron age
The colossus of the north
The last emperor (1894-1917)
Nicky and Sunny: the last Romanovs
The approach of disaster
Days of war and revolution
The last days of the Romanovs
Notes and References
Works Cited
Index
Preface
Acknowledgments
A Note on Russian Names and Dates
Prologue
Muscovite beginnings (1613-1689)
Tsars and tsarinas
In the eye of the storm
The politics of Muscovy
The rise of an empire (1689-1796)
Eighteenth-century emperors & empresses
An imperial city in the making
From debauchery to philosophy
Imperial aspirations
Empire triumphant (1796-1894)
The imperial dynasty
The new faces of St. Petersburg
From golden age to iron age
The colossus of the north
The last emperor (1894-1917)
Nicky and Sunny: the last Romanovs
The approach of disaster
Days of war and revolution
The last days of the Romanovs
Notes and References
Works Cited
Index
864 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
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1395 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
April 26, 2016
Last autumn, I went over to my friend Jamie’s house to help fix a table. She’d summoned me for this errand because I was the only one who picked up the phone when she called I am awesome at fixing tables. Upon finishing the task, I went to her bookshelf – because that is what I do when you let me in your house. I’m not going through your drawers. I’m not looking in you medicine cabinet. No, I am going to check out your books (and judge you, silently).
On her shelf, I found a collection of Russian novels, along with a biography of Lenin. As a history nut – who is always looking for other nuts to associate with – I had several questions about her rather striking collection of books. (There weren’t really any non-Russian books). As it turned out, Jamie is a closet Russophile.
Flash forward a few months, to the start of the Winter Olympics. Russia is constantly on the news. Jamie and I revive our prior conversation. Someone (me) suggests starting a Russian book club. A quick survey of friends and families turns up zero willing participants. Except Jamie. So we decide to have a Two Person Russian Book Club. On a split vote, I was elected Premier, and Jamie took the post of Vice-Premier and Deputy Director of Communications.
To choose our inaugural volume, I spent a perfectly good hour finding ten suitable books. The list ran the gamut of subjects: some general histories, some cultural histories, and several biographies. I gave the list to Jamie, and then, independently, we ranked our first and second choices.
And lo, the first pick of the Two Person Russian Book Club: The Romanovs: Autocrats of All the Russias, by W. Bruce Lincoln.
For a nascent, undermanned book club with some prior Russian reading (or for a normal person who just wants to read about the Romanovs), this proved to be a good, far-ranging primer. To a large extent, the Romanovs were pre-Revolutionary Russia; the history of the Romanovs is the history of Russia up to 1917. Romanov leaders centralized power; they fought off foreign foes; they expanded Russia’s frontiers; and they brought Russia – sometimes kicking and screaming – into the modern world. Even after the death of the final Tsar, the Romanov shadow lingers.
The Romanovs is a big book befitting a bigger subject. At 749 pages of text, it is something of a doorstop. Of course, twenty times that number of pages couldn’t begin to tell the full story in great detail. You could spend over a thousand pages on Peter the Great alone (and Robert Massie has). There is streamlining and elisions, but the end result is a marvelous, thorough overview of the Romanov autocracy. I’ve read lengthy books on Peter, on Catherine the Great, and on Nicholas II. Here, it was nice to see them all tied together, placed on the continuum of history. To see, for example, the line move from Nicholas I to Alexander II to Alexander III, and to recognize in that succession how poorly equipped and unsuitable Nicholas II was to take the reins of power.
In telling this rather massive tale, Lincoln – a noted Russian historian who was an exchange scholar in the USSR – utilizes a hybrid approach that interchanges chronological, bio-centric chapters with thematic chapters that cover more limited topics, such as foreign policy, architecture, or the arts. For example, in Part II of The Romanovs, there is a chapter devoted to 18th century tsars and tsarinas. This chapter is a linked series of biographies on a sequence of rulers, some great, such as Peter the and Catherine the, and some rather unfortunate, like the German-leaning Peter III who was overthrown by his wife and likely assassinated (His death remains something of a myster). Once this narrative chapter ends, Lincoln switches gears to devote an entire section to the building of St. Petersburg.
The Two Person Russian Book Club was of two minds (literally) with regards to this approach. Jamie preferred the narrative, biographical chapters, and found the thematic chapters much slower going. To a certain extent, they are repetitive (since they often cover the same ground as the bio chapters) and a bit confusing (since they hop backwards along the timeline that Lincoln has already established). Ultimately, though the thematic chapters aren’t as well-paced, I found they added richness and context to what otherwise might’ve been an exercise in reducing history to the whims and character flaws of a dubious collection of individuals.
In a book this size, there are bound to be peaks and valleys. There are definite lulls in certain places. Lincoln does not infuse his prose with any type of literary flair, as practiced by the likes of a Shelby Foote or Rick Atkinson. His writing is sturdy and unadorned. Most of the time, this doesn’t matter, because the subject-matter really speaks for itself. You don’t need a lot of goosing to convey the drama (The wars! The romances! The assassinations! The affairs! The betrayals! The upheavals!) of Russian history. It is next to impossible to make the life of Peter the Great less than interesting.
That said, Lincoln’s strengths are revealed the further you read. By the time we reach the early 1800s, The Romanovs really hits its stride. Lincoln’s wheelhouse is Nicholas I, of whom he wrote a standalone biography. His facility with this man – his character, his virtues, his many mistakes, his cruelties – is readily apparent.
Lincoln’s coverage of the second and third Alexanders are also quite good. As mentioned above, they provide a fascinating study in contrasts to the last Tsar, Nicholas II, who held the same autocratic beliefs of Alexander II and III, but none of their toughness.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Lincoln takes a rather solicitous view of the Romanovs. After all, The Romanovs was written in 1981, during the late winter of the Cold War, when the unchecked power of the Tsars seemed almost benign in comparison to the blood purges of Lenin and Stalin, the nuclear posturing of the Kremlin, the tortures of the Gulag, and the multitudes who died under Communist rule. Of course, the Romanov dynasty was not exactly a garden party. The Romanovs presided over serfdom, they broke people on the wheel (sometimes their own family), and they kept untold millions under their iron thumb. Mostly, though, Lincoln is pretty forgiving – with the exception of Nicholas II, who he goes to extraordinary lengths to paint as a knave (and his wife a near-conspirator).
The Romanovs is somewhat dry, sometimes slow, but always readable. It does a commendable job wrangling a sprawling subject. It is not perfect, especially in the map department, of which it has zero, but admirably succeeds in providing an overview of Russian leadership from 1613 to 1917.
The Two Person Russian Book Club, after a series of bureaucratic maneuvers, endless committee sessions, and an attempted putsch, eventually voted to recommend The Romanovs to others.
On her shelf, I found a collection of Russian novels, along with a biography of Lenin. As a history nut – who is always looking for other nuts to associate with – I had several questions about her rather striking collection of books. (There weren’t really any non-Russian books). As it turned out, Jamie is a closet Russophile.
Flash forward a few months, to the start of the Winter Olympics. Russia is constantly on the news. Jamie and I revive our prior conversation. Someone (me) suggests starting a Russian book club. A quick survey of friends and families turns up zero willing participants. Except Jamie. So we decide to have a Two Person Russian Book Club. On a split vote, I was elected Premier, and Jamie took the post of Vice-Premier and Deputy Director of Communications.
To choose our inaugural volume, I spent a perfectly good hour finding ten suitable books. The list ran the gamut of subjects: some general histories, some cultural histories, and several biographies. I gave the list to Jamie, and then, independently, we ranked our first and second choices.
And lo, the first pick of the Two Person Russian Book Club: The Romanovs: Autocrats of All the Russias, by W. Bruce Lincoln.
For a nascent, undermanned book club with some prior Russian reading (or for a normal person who just wants to read about the Romanovs), this proved to be a good, far-ranging primer. To a large extent, the Romanovs were pre-Revolutionary Russia; the history of the Romanovs is the history of Russia up to 1917. Romanov leaders centralized power; they fought off foreign foes; they expanded Russia’s frontiers; and they brought Russia – sometimes kicking and screaming – into the modern world. Even after the death of the final Tsar, the Romanov shadow lingers.
The Romanovs is a big book befitting a bigger subject. At 749 pages of text, it is something of a doorstop. Of course, twenty times that number of pages couldn’t begin to tell the full story in great detail. You could spend over a thousand pages on Peter the Great alone (and Robert Massie has). There is streamlining and elisions, but the end result is a marvelous, thorough overview of the Romanov autocracy. I’ve read lengthy books on Peter, on Catherine the Great, and on Nicholas II. Here, it was nice to see them all tied together, placed on the continuum of history. To see, for example, the line move from Nicholas I to Alexander II to Alexander III, and to recognize in that succession how poorly equipped and unsuitable Nicholas II was to take the reins of power.
In telling this rather massive tale, Lincoln – a noted Russian historian who was an exchange scholar in the USSR – utilizes a hybrid approach that interchanges chronological, bio-centric chapters with thematic chapters that cover more limited topics, such as foreign policy, architecture, or the arts. For example, in Part II of The Romanovs, there is a chapter devoted to 18th century tsars and tsarinas. This chapter is a linked series of biographies on a sequence of rulers, some great, such as Peter the and Catherine the, and some rather unfortunate, like the German-leaning Peter III who was overthrown by his wife and likely assassinated (His death remains something of a myster). Once this narrative chapter ends, Lincoln switches gears to devote an entire section to the building of St. Petersburg.
The Two Person Russian Book Club was of two minds (literally) with regards to this approach. Jamie preferred the narrative, biographical chapters, and found the thematic chapters much slower going. To a certain extent, they are repetitive (since they often cover the same ground as the bio chapters) and a bit confusing (since they hop backwards along the timeline that Lincoln has already established). Ultimately, though the thematic chapters aren’t as well-paced, I found they added richness and context to what otherwise might’ve been an exercise in reducing history to the whims and character flaws of a dubious collection of individuals.
In a book this size, there are bound to be peaks and valleys. There are definite lulls in certain places. Lincoln does not infuse his prose with any type of literary flair, as practiced by the likes of a Shelby Foote or Rick Atkinson. His writing is sturdy and unadorned. Most of the time, this doesn’t matter, because the subject-matter really speaks for itself. You don’t need a lot of goosing to convey the drama (The wars! The romances! The assassinations! The affairs! The betrayals! The upheavals!) of Russian history. It is next to impossible to make the life of Peter the Great less than interesting.
That said, Lincoln’s strengths are revealed the further you read. By the time we reach the early 1800s, The Romanovs really hits its stride. Lincoln’s wheelhouse is Nicholas I, of whom he wrote a standalone biography. His facility with this man – his character, his virtues, his many mistakes, his cruelties – is readily apparent.
As a child, Nicholas found relief in the boredom of his lessons in a fascination with the army, an interest he shared with his younger brother Mikhail. Together, they built fortresses out of tables and chairs and sometimes constructed even more realistic fortifications out of earth in the palace gardens. Nicholas was always careful to place cannon “for defense” around any structure he built. Indeed, he seems to have been preoccupied with defense as a child. When still in the care of Jane Lyon, his stern but loving Scots nurse, he used to grow pale when he met army officers for fear that they might take him “prisoner.” Perhaps his father’s murder had scarred him more deeply than anyone suspected. Certainly, defense became a key factor in his policies as he sought to defend his state against revolution and shield his subjects from ideas he considered harmful. Most of all, Nicholas sought to defend Russia from Europe…
Lincoln’s coverage of the second and third Alexanders are also quite good. As mentioned above, they provide a fascinating study in contrasts to the last Tsar, Nicholas II, who held the same autocratic beliefs of Alexander II and III, but none of their toughness.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Lincoln takes a rather solicitous view of the Romanovs. After all, The Romanovs was written in 1981, during the late winter of the Cold War, when the unchecked power of the Tsars seemed almost benign in comparison to the blood purges of Lenin and Stalin, the nuclear posturing of the Kremlin, the tortures of the Gulag, and the multitudes who died under Communist rule. Of course, the Romanov dynasty was not exactly a garden party. The Romanovs presided over serfdom, they broke people on the wheel (sometimes their own family), and they kept untold millions under their iron thumb. Mostly, though, Lincoln is pretty forgiving – with the exception of Nicholas II, who he goes to extraordinary lengths to paint as a knave (and his wife a near-conspirator).
The Romanovs is somewhat dry, sometimes slow, but always readable. It does a commendable job wrangling a sprawling subject. It is not perfect, especially in the map department, of which it has zero, but admirably succeeds in providing an overview of Russian leadership from 1613 to 1917.
The Two Person Russian Book Club, after a series of bureaucratic maneuvers, endless committee sessions, and an attempted putsch, eventually voted to recommend The Romanovs to others.
January 2, 2021
The Romanovs is a magnificent overview of 300+ years of Russian history. The book is divided into several large chronological sections. Each of these starts with short biographies of every Tsar/Tsarina in the period. The initial biographical subsections are followed by chapters on major developments in each era. For instance, there are passages on the construction of St. Petersburg, the westernization of the nobles and the ensuing cultural gulf between Russia's upper and lower classes, legal reforms, international conflicts, internal uprisings, and profiles of prominent writers and artists. Nearly every page is enhanced by Lincoln's marvelous prose. I could not imagine a better introduction to the times of the Romanovs.
September 15, 2024
Obra monumental sobre la dinastía que gobernó Rusia durante 300 años. Como siempre, este tipo de obras peca de falta de profundidad en gran parte de sus temas pero cubre desde las intimidades de los soberanos hasta la cultura y la diplomacia.
Muy recomendable!!
Muy recomendable!!
June 24, 2015
Revolution seemed possible when I entered college, my career 'plans', such as they were, being either to help steer it humanely and intelligently or, failing that, to become a history teacher. Consequently, I took a lot of history and social science courses, focusing primarily on Europe.
The study of revolutions seemed the stuff of history during both high school and college. We'd done a lot on the American, French and Russian revolutions in high school (but nothing much on the English!) and that continued into college, but by college I'd decided to pay particular attention to the most modern of them, the Soviet, by taking a two-wemester sequence of Russian history. Previous study had convinced me that the revolution had failed in being as humane as it might have been, so I was especially interested in the late 19th century up until the death of Lenin in 1924.
Lincoln's biographies of the Romanov dynasty covers over three hundred years but concentrates on the last tzars, especially Nicholas, tracing how the autocracy fell behind the times and virtually made some sort of revolution inevitable. So doing, reading it served as a refresher for much of what I'd studied in college.
The study of revolutions seemed the stuff of history during both high school and college. We'd done a lot on the American, French and Russian revolutions in high school (but nothing much on the English!) and that continued into college, but by college I'd decided to pay particular attention to the most modern of them, the Soviet, by taking a two-wemester sequence of Russian history. Previous study had convinced me that the revolution had failed in being as humane as it might have been, so I was especially interested in the late 19th century up until the death of Lenin in 1924.
Lincoln's biographies of the Romanov dynasty covers over three hundred years but concentrates on the last tzars, especially Nicholas, tracing how the autocracy fell behind the times and virtually made some sort of revolution inevitable. So doing, reading it served as a refresher for much of what I'd studied in college.
November 4, 2024
Incredible levels of detail presented on each of the Romanov leaders and personalities, and a somewhat fresh perspective on the extent to which Nicholas II managed to bumble his throne. That being said, it’s more of a surprise that the Romanov throne remained viable for long enough for him to even be crowned.
As always, the historical context seems to provide little insights into the present. I was particularly struck by the similar position occupied by the Muscovy state and the infant US at similar time periods.
Stars knocked off because of the authors long tangents about contemporary arts, and the somewhat predictable russophile slant, which obscures a true relating of the history of Eastern Europe.
As always, the historical context seems to provide little insights into the present. I was particularly struck by the similar position occupied by the Muscovy state and the infant US at similar time periods.
Stars knocked off because of the authors long tangents about contemporary arts, and the somewhat predictable russophile slant, which obscures a true relating of the history of Eastern Europe.
May 7, 2013
I picked this up at a used bookstore out of curiosity. I found it to be an extremely comprehensive overview that covers the entire reign of the Russian autocrats from beginning to end. As a laywoman without much knowledge of the Romanovs or Russian history, I found that overall this was extremely detailed. That said, as someone without much knowledge of them I found the frequent switching between autocrats confusing, as the chapters are not chronological but thematic. There is not much in the way of introduction for each chapter so the focus is not always readily apparent. Sometimes details can get overwhelming for those still trying to remember who's who. For example, a lengthy and detailed chapter on the architecture of St. Petersberg frequently switches between various autocrat's reigns and makes mention of far too many architects to remember.
However, I do not fault the author for this as I can't imagine how one could produce such a broad and sweeping work without overwhelming the less knowledgeable of readers. I'm sure that for those familiar with the names and dates of all the autocrats and the main court players, this would be less of a problem. While Lincoln does provide a chronology earlier on, it's difficult to keep straight over the course of several hundred years (and the several hundred pages of the book!).
Personally, I would have liked to see more details about external affairs, Russian colonialism, and cultural affairs under the Romanovs, but then again, that could take another several hundred pages...
All that said, this is a book I intend to reference again as my knowledge of Russian history grows.
However, I do not fault the author for this as I can't imagine how one could produce such a broad and sweeping work without overwhelming the less knowledgeable of readers. I'm sure that for those familiar with the names and dates of all the autocrats and the main court players, this would be less of a problem. While Lincoln does provide a chronology earlier on, it's difficult to keep straight over the course of several hundred years (and the several hundred pages of the book!).
Personally, I would have liked to see more details about external affairs, Russian colonialism, and cultural affairs under the Romanovs, but then again, that could take another several hundred pages...
All that said, this is a book I intend to reference again as my knowledge of Russian history grows.
January 26, 2022
I love reading about the Romanovs, but it’s difficult to find information on them that isn’t shrouded in salaciousness, romanticization, or clear bias. I can confidently say Lincoln’s book fulfilled my need for clean-cut information on the dynasty. Although written 40+ years ago and therefore missing some details that have since been uncovered or definitively proven, it still holds up and serves as the blueprint. Most of all, glorification of the dynasty, particularly the last Imperial Family, is omitted. There is not suffocating slander on communism and the revolutionaries — in fact, Lincoln addresses the positives and negatives of socialist views, moderate views, and imperial views during Russia in that time. No sugarcoating or exaggeration. Even in 2022, it’s a refreshing take from a western author on Russian history, especially since Lincoln studied in what was then the USSR and got a firsthand look. It’s how a history book should be written. I read that Lincoln was in the process of chronicling the entire history of Russia before his death, and it’s a shame he was not able to finish it. His writing is enthralling, intriguing, and interesting without perpetuating any myths or including excessive (and admittedly boring) detail, and I would have loved to read his book encompassing all of Russian history. RIP king.
November 2, 2018
I first read this book many years ago. Since that time, I have done much more reading about Russia in general & the Romanovs in particular. Also, since that time (the book is copyright 1981), the USSR is no more and the remains of the last Romanovs have been found & re-interred. Reading this book with this new perspective does nothing to detract from it; in fact makes it even more fascinating. It is an excellent telling of the beginning and end of an unique dynasty.
January 31, 2023
W Bruce Lincoln has chronicled the history of the Romanov Dynasty (1613-1917), which ruled Russia for three centuries before it was overthrown by the 1917 revolution. During that period Russia went from being a relatively insignificant regional power to one of the mightiest empires to have ever existed.
As one can imagine, the scope and the period covered by this book are too vast to cover anything but the most significant events of the period. That limitation notwithstanding, the author has successfully outlined the major socio-political developments of the Romanov era, explaining how Russia rose from obscurity to become a major European power in just two centuries.
Per contra, that rise was achieved despite an unsustainable economy and appaling levels of illiteracy. Ultimately, the Romanovs built their empire despite the socio-economic condition of their state and not because of it. Ultimately they built a powerful state, but one which was incapable of meeting the basic requirements of their subjects and therein lay the roots of the revolution that ultimately toppled them.
This book is an excellent read for those who are looking for a cursory overview of Russian history from 1613-1917. For the uninitiated, this is the ideal starting point.
As one can imagine, the scope and the period covered by this book are too vast to cover anything but the most significant events of the period. That limitation notwithstanding, the author has successfully outlined the major socio-political developments of the Romanov era, explaining how Russia rose from obscurity to become a major European power in just two centuries.
Per contra, that rise was achieved despite an unsustainable economy and appaling levels of illiteracy. Ultimately, the Romanovs built their empire despite the socio-economic condition of their state and not because of it. Ultimately they built a powerful state, but one which was incapable of meeting the basic requirements of their subjects and therein lay the roots of the revolution that ultimately toppled them.
This book is an excellent read for those who are looking for a cursory overview of Russian history from 1613-1917. For the uninitiated, this is the ideal starting point.
January 24, 2019
I read this in 2008/2009 during the late stage of my pregnancy and those first few months when your baby mostly cries, feeds and poops. It is extensive and goes through the reigns of all the Romanovs from when the numerous states were consolidated into one country to the embarrassing failure of the last Tsar to properly rule such a large and fast changing country. There are peaks and troughs all through out the period, the changes through society in Russia and the world in general is fascinating. The feelings towards the rest of Europe swinging between desperately trying to keep up with the Jones' to resenting the way Europe looked down on their country to embracing all things European. This is a good book which goes into enough detail to give the reader a decent overview of Russian history and is a good starting point for learning about the individual monarchs. After reading this you will no doubt want to know more about the individuals.
March 4, 2025
The epic story of the Romanov Dynasty is told by W. Bruce Lincoln through power, war, and art. The 300+ year reign of the Russian autocrats, lasting from 1613, after Mikhail I took the throne during the Time of Troubles, to 1917 when the Bolshevik Revolution broke out. W. Bruce Lincoln tells the story of each Tsar, including their families and nobles they interacted with. However, I wouldn't recommend this to be the first book on the Romanov Dynasty someone should read. It can be very complicated at times, and the pacing may confuse some readers (especially for myself, since I barely remember anything other than main ideas). It tends to jump back and forth between chapters. I would probably recommend Simon Sebag Montefiore's take on the Romanovs or biographies by Robert K. Massie, since they focus on one Tsar rather than all of them. Don't avoid this book, for it has good ideas and stories. I will probably read this again after I have a better understanding of the Romanovs.
May 4, 2019
This book was published in 1981 (so prior to the fall of the USSR). As a consequence, some of the archives that were subsequently released were not have been available to the author. Despite the page numbers given, the actual text is 749 pages (which excludes endnote citations, prologue, etc).
The author considers the entire Romanov dynasty, some 300 years of history in this book. As a result, and effectively, the author uses a spiral style to look at each ruler, the issues the faced, changes in the world, personality of the ruler and advisors, and relationships with heirs. As a result, the book moves from one area (say law) to the next (war), but then returns to consider the same issues with respect to how advisors or heirs acted. This creates a very effective vision of the major issues and changes that each ruler confronted.
The author considers the entire Romanov dynasty, some 300 years of history in this book. As a result, and effectively, the author uses a spiral style to look at each ruler, the issues the faced, changes in the world, personality of the ruler and advisors, and relationships with heirs. As a result, the book moves from one area (say law) to the next (war), but then returns to consider the same issues with respect to how advisors or heirs acted. This creates a very effective vision of the major issues and changes that each ruler confronted.
July 23, 2022
This is a very good book. I found Mr. Lincoln's coverage of aspects of Russian life, specifically culture such of poets (Pushkin), writers (Tolstoy and Dostoevskii), architects and builders, composers and ballet to be excessive. Tolstoy is a bit of an exception as he did have some contact with Czar Nicholas II. I learned a lot about the lesser tsars and tsarinas as well as the more famous ones such as Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. The coverage was proportionally distributed among these leaders according to the impact they had. While I already knew a lot about the period around Nicholas II, I learned a lot about his predecessors.
October 18, 2017
A fantastic, in-depth, and riveting telling of the story of a family that brought one of the world’s greatest empires to the height of its glory, and how that same family opened the door for its collapse. Perhaps my one complaint it’s the absence of an real in-depth of the relationship between the Tsars and their Orthodox Church, which is surprising as the church found a central place in the Tsar’s slogan or “Autocracy, Orthodoxy, and Nationality”.
December 28, 2021
I read this book (all 749 pages of it) in 1982 and re-read it in 2021. And I have brought it with me from California to Hawaii, Seattle, La Serena (Chile), and back to the USA. It has very good background on Peter the Great, the whole 19th century, and the demise of the dynasty. The account of the death of Rasputin is quite something. They poisoned him. They shot him. Then they threw him in the River Neva through a hole in the ice. It was later determined that he drowned.
March 18, 2019
A informative book. Although of great length, it provides a detailed window into Russian history.
June 12, 2019
Excellent, readable, thorough (even if I have made some other deductions concerning some people).
Read
September 25, 2021Kabul, Afghanistan
March 20, 2022
3.5 stars
February 23, 2017
Very good overview of the Romanov dynasty. I wish it were more in a pure chronological order, but it works.
February 18, 2017
I took a long time to read this book but it was worth it. A bit difficult to read as the author goes back and forth between Peter and Catherine the Great's reigns and their impact on Russian life.
January 19, 2020
If you want to read any Russian history, W. Bruce Lincoln is your man. He can be a little dry sometimes though, so you probably have to be a big Slavophile to truly enjoy his books.
August 7, 2016
Overview of the Russian state as ruled by the Romanovs. Chapters largely alternated between standard biographies of the ruling Tsar and Palace intrigues, followed by chapter on the authors, poets and architects of the time. Surprisingly little time spent on the great political events of the 19th and 20th century (Crimean War, Turkish wars, and building of Trans-Siberian railroad).
August 26, 2008
Fascinating. I got a little confused with the alternating Alexanders and Nicholases towards the end; the ealier emperors lives seemed mor eventful are more interesting, mainly because of the struggles they had to modernize.
September 27, 2007
A very complete and detailed survey of the Romanov's. Well written and interesting.
November 6, 2008
I just read certain sections and scanned through rest.
August 2, 2011
very interesting history of Romanovs and Russia.
April 28, 2013
Exhaustive but not exhausting. A tremendously detailed account of events over a span so long.
Read
December 7, 2015I have read much of this book, yet not all and probably will not read the entire book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews