The Romanovs: 1613-1918

Written by Simon Sebag Montefiore

Narrated by Simon Russell Beale

The Romanovs were the most successful dynasty of modern times, ruling a sixth of the world’s surface for three centuries. How did one family turn a war-ruined principality into the world’s greatest empire? And how did they lose it all?
 
This is the intimate story of twenty tsars and tsarinas, some touched by genius, some by madness, but all inspired by holy autocracy and imperial ambition. Simon Sebag Montefiore’s gripping chronicle reveals their secret world of unlimited power and ruthless empire-building, overshadowed by palace conspiracy, family rivalries, sexual decadence and wild extravagance, with a global cast of adventurers, courtesans, revolutionaries and poets, from Ivan the Terrible to Tolstoy and Pushkin, to Bismarck, Lincoln, Queen Victoria and Lenin.

To rule Russia was both imperial-sacred mission and poisoned chalice: six of the last twelve tsars were murdered. Peter the Great tortured his own son to death while making Russia an empire, and dominated his court with a dining club notable for compulsory drunkenness, naked dwarfs and fancy dress. Catherine the Great overthrew her own husband (who was murdered soon afterward), enjoyed affairs with a series of young male favorites, conquered Ukraine and fascinated Europe. Paul I was strangled by courtiers backed by his own son, Alexander I, who in turn faced Napoleon’s invasion and the burning of Moscow, then went on to take Paris. Alexander II liberated the serfs, survived five assassination attempts and wrote perhaps the most explicit love letters ever composed by a ruler. The Romanovs climaxes with a fresh, unforgettable portrayal of Nicholas II and Alexandra, the rise and murder of Rasputin, war and revolution—and the harrowing massacre of the entire family.

Dazzlingly entertaining and beautifully written from start to finish, The Romanovs brings these monarchs—male and female, great and flawed, their families and courts—blazingly to life. Drawing on new archival research, Montefiore delivers an enthralling epic of triumph and tragedy, love and murder, encompassing the seminal years 1812, 1914 and 1917, that is both a universal study of power and a portrait of empire that helps define Russia today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: May 3, 2016
• ISBN: 9780399567704

Simon Sebag Montefiore

Simon Sebag Montefiore’s bestselling and prize-winning books are now published in over forty-five languages. His new book The Romanovs: 1613–1918 has been universally acclaimed and is already a bestseller in the UK, Australia, and the USA where it was on the New York Times bestseller list for eight weeks. Montefiore has won literary prizes for both fiction and nonfiction. His latest novel, One Night in Winter won the Best Political Novel of the Year Prize and was longlisted for the Orwell Prize. He is now writing the third novel in this trilogy. Follow Simon on Twitter at @SimonMontefiore. For more information visit SimonSebagMontefiore.com.

[dilip1kumar-572329 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An absorbing account, beautifully written, of the series of rulers of Russia known as the Romanov dynasty. This account explains many of the peculiarities of the Russian situation even today, and the misfortune of not modernizing in step with the rest of Europe, and even of Asia. This is also a lesson in the pitfalls of depending for leadership on some sort of mystical god-granted power of one dynasty, and not developing a broader idea of the nation that would enroll talented persons from all sections. Finally, it brings out starkly the enormous failure of a particularly weak and domesticated, but obstinately strong-willed, tsar at the end of the lineage, when he forces of revolution were gathering an unstoppable momentum. So deficient was the thinking that Tsar and Tsarina did not even take the opportunity of sending at least their innocent children to safety in Europe, even if they themselves wanted to die with the old regime.

[melissarochelle_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Russian history is violent and filled with times of SEX and times of NOT SEX. Historically, the nobles wanted an authoritarian leader that allowed them to own serfs, lots of them. Some of the rulers we've heard about most, Peter the Great, Katherine the Great -- they were randy motherf*****rs. Peter kept a "freak show" around, y'all.

[thewestwing-864351 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

4.5 stars - a vast read but engaging and entertaining. Obviously covers a lot but gives a great overview of the cast of characters that ruled Russia for so long.

[PlumaGulunga · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Romanovs ruled Russia as tsars and emperors for three hundred years. Through the relentless force of their personalities, this family of peculiar yet brilliant autocrats transformed a weak kingdom ravaged by civil war into an empire that dominated Europe. Peter the Great, the drunken and murderous tyrant, physically a giant and a political reformer; and Catherine the Great, the passionate German princess who overthrew her own husband to become the most outstanding statesperson of a golden age, were the two greatest rulers of Russia. Elizabeth, who was as promiscuous as she was glamorous, continued Russia's rise as a European power; later, the irresponsible and unstable Peter III and Paul I were murdered. Nicholas I censored Pushkin, declared himself the Gendarme of Europe, and fought in the Crimean War against Great Britain. Finally, Nicholas II and Alexandra, despite their happy marriage and the tragedy of their hemophiliac son, proved too incompetent to save Russia from the Great War and revolution. This is the story of how Russia became the country we know today. Simon Sebag Montefiore shows that the empire of autocrats and their small cliques have always dominated the history of Russia, from the first Romanov tsar in 1613, through the magnificence of Peter and Catherine and the clumsy decline of Nicholas II, to the red tsars - Lenin and Stalin in the 20th century - and the authoritarian presidency of Putin in the 21st century. Like almost all Russian works, it enjoys regurgitating characters left and right with the same names of Dmitri, Nikolay, Alexis, and a long etcetera. The only things that differentiate them are their last names and, if they are very lucky, some feat that can be burned into the reader's brain; all of this is due to the volatility of the Russian court, which, like its contemporaries, enjoyed murders, plots, and conspiracies that freely shuffled pieces at will, including tsars, tsarinas, and grand dukes or duchesses. (Translated from Spanish)

[ibkennedy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Monotonous...same ignorant killers for centuries

[Miguel Rendon · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A very well-documented book that – although it contains a million names that are impossible to remember and distinguish – is very easy to read and reminds us that the Romanovs were an exceptional dynasty at all times. People's memory is petty when they only recall the megalomaniac Peter the Great, the fantastic Catherine II (who was not Russian but German and whose legend says inspired Miranda to create the flag of Greater Colombia – although none of this is mentioned in the book, nor is the Caracas precursor mentioned) or the tragic Nicholas II and his family. But Alexander I defeated Napoleon and with his army reached Paris, and Alexander II was a man ahead of his time (in Russia) who freed the serfs and attempted to modernize the political regime of his empire. They are great figures who are not often remembered, except when we read War and Peace or when we admire the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg. (Translated from Spanish)

[JoseLuis1972?? · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

22/2021
THE ROMANOVS
The history of the Romanovs is vast. Montefiore has done the most difficult task: narrating it entirely, writing a perfectly woven chronicle. Obviously, nuances are missing... Although it may seem unbelievable given the scale of the novel, we are faced with a summary of what the dynasty that built a great empire represented.

The Romanovs came with blood and disappeared with blood. It is a tragic history, filled with wars, cruelties, and secrets of the bedroom. They entered the court of Ivan the Terrible after a contest of brides convened by the tsar to find a wife. Five hundred maidens presented themselves at the palace (no more and no less than 500). The tsar chose Anastasia Romanova, great-aunt of the first Romanov. Ivan the Terrible had seven more wives. He poisoned three and likely ordered the murder of a few others. This was not the case for Anastasia, who passed away in 1560. Ivan suspected that some nobles from his court hostile to his alliance politics had poisoned her (Montefiore explains that analysis of her corpse, already in the 20th century, revealed elevated levels of mercury). The fact is that Ivan lost his temper. He ravaged cities and set upon his suspicious ministers.

Years later, various heirs fought fiercely for the throne. Mongols, Tatars, Cossacks... Swedes, Poles... Half a century of civil wars and conflicts between nations, conquests and broken alliances followed until the coronation of Michael I, grandson of a monk brother of Anastasia who competed against and even confronted false heirs, the False Dmitris. There were three, each bloodier than the last. This brief digression allows us to reinforce the initial thesis. The melting pot of names in a perpetually conspiratorial environment makes it impossible to dissect the history of the Romanovs. Montefiore facilitates this task by offering us a cast at the beginning of each chapter. Even so, it is easy to get lost in this parade of names.

The narration is gripping, the characters—sinuous, wicked, exceptional—succeed one another in a setting that is both enchanted and grim. The court of the tsars is cursed. Their end does not surprise us. Although we, as readers, suffer it as one of the most ruthless displays of brutality and revenge. Those drunken Bolsheviks who unleashed fury on the entire family. (So much alcohol in their veins....)

The book is fascinating. The luxury and grandeur of the tsars bestow upon them an almost divine aura whose imprint manifests in a destitute, servile, enchanted, and ultimately hate-filled people. The narrative slows as we delve into the centuries of splendor. Montefiore places Russia in the world. This is no small matter. So often we dismiss the “Russia factor” ?? in historical analyses of contemporary times as minor. Aware of this, of the growing influence of the Great Russia dreamed of by Putin, the author warns us of its geostrategic importance. And he underscores the thesis that looms over the entire work: Russia does not know how to live without tsars. ??? (Translated from Spanish)

[Gerard68 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An exciting book about the legendary family saga that reigned in Russia for three centuries. The author, as good historians or history communicators usually do, manages to make the book read almost like a novel and it never bores or loses interest at any moment. Certainly, everything that has happened in that country throughout the centuries is terrible, and the degree of savagery and cruelty reached, I believe, surpasses what other nations have suffered. This is the only way to explain the bloodthirsty tyrants of modern Russia like Stalin or that kind of current Tsar who is the sinister Putin. In short, highly recommended. (Translated from Spanish)

[Saramp96 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I feel quite insignificant compared to Simon Montefiore, as you can understand, because I am a little fan of the Romanov dynasty and much of this has to do with the animated movie of Anastasia, and despite having watched many biographical documentaries and series inspired by this famous dynasty, this novel/biographical essay is extremely comprehensive. The author has documented even the smallest details (in the first pages, he explains how he carried out that exhaustive research), making this book an indispensable compendium for any history lover in general, and Russian history in particular.

It is divided into three acts that correspond to different stages of the Romanov dynasty, roughly each covering a century of history. Each act is further divided into scenes, each corresponding to the reign of a tsar or tsarina. A very important point of the scenes is that at the beginning of each, there is a guide to the characters who will appear in the period being narrated, both from the Russian royalty, ministers, and kings or military figures relevant in Russia but coming from other countries. It is very useful to consult it when everyone starts being called Alexandrovich or Peter, and it becomes hard to differentiate who is who. I must say that, despite its density, it has more of a novel format than a biographical essay due to the inclusion of small dialogues that help recreate the situations much better, and therefore it is not slow or boring. Moreover, the Romanovs, in general, are certainly not boring; they are truly a fascinating dynasty that gave rise to diverse characters, with everything from forward-thinking tsarinas with the power to stand out even without being born into royalty, like the two Catherines, to tsars as disparate in their personalities as in their ways of ruling, from Alexander I who defeated Napoleon to Peter the Great or the immature Nicholas II.

The meaning of this great saga is described so perfectly that it is easy to delve into the greatness and the tragic cruelty of this family, both from within and from without due to how they ended. They caused as much harm as they ultimately received. And the parallels are unavoidable: the first tsarevich, Mikhail I, was a sickly boy, similar to the last, Alexei. The Romanovs arose from a dreadful scenario, just as they ended. One could even draw similarities between the 300 years of the tsarist dynasty and contemporary Russia, to which the author also refers in the epilogue. Lastly, I must mention, as if all the documentation were not enough, the fantastic collection of portraits and photographs that comes at the end of each and every one of the members of the Russian royalty and other relevant characters in this story. (Translated from Spanish)

[Lia · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A fascinating story that has always generated a lot of curiosity in me, and I have always wanted to know more. Now that I know what I wanted, I am fully satisfied. The author narrates this heavy story of 304 years in a very light way, althoughdon't be fooled, it takes time to read; it requires commitment as it can become overwhelming in some parts. In fact, this was what pushed me to give it 4.5 stars, but really the way he narrated the ending, the details, and how my heart was squeezed made me decide on the 5 stars. It deserves it. It truly tells us not only about political matters but also about personal ones, and I love that because it's always interesting to see what lies behind a monarch. Finally, I want to say that it is not a book for everyone; if you don't like history, if you're not interested, if you don't have basic knowledge of political science and some global events, you won't enjoy it, so save yourself the trouble. But on the contrary, if you are a bookworm with a curious soul and a desire to know more (and a fascination for monarchies doesn't hurt), like me; this book will surely fill you up, even though it may overwhelm you at times. To conclude, I close my little review with two phrases I liked from the ending: "Finally, the Romanovs have been able to reunite again." "The Romanovs have disappeared, but the struggles of Russian autocracy remain alive." (Translated from Spanish)

[lynnb_64 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is an ambitious book, chronicling over 300 years of the Romanov dynasty in Russia. Mr. Montefiore is a great writer, with a novelist's ability to draw his characters and bring them to life. In spite of that, I found the book a bit hard to read because, while heavy on facts, there is little analysis and a lack of context to situate the life of the Tsars in broader Russian life, or in wider world events.

It struck me how the Romanov family never seemed to learn from their history, with each generation making the same kind of mistakes. And, with Mr. Putin currently in power, I wonder if Russia has yet to shed its tendency towards autocracy??

[wagner5sarah35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An excellent overview of the Romanov dynasty from its origins in the Time of Troubles to the Russian Revolution. I do wish the author had spent more time on some of the earlier Romanovs, but I also think most authors tend to dwell on the better documented and more recent rulers from this family. This volume is lengthy, but it's well-worth the time to understand the family which governed Russia for more than three centuries.