Russian Tsars: The Rurikids, The Romanovs

Reflecting on the history of Russia, a country straddling two continents, one comes to the conclusion that it combines features of Eastern despotism and Western civilisation - an explosive cocktail inevitably influencing the character of the Russian autocracy. We trace our tale of Russian absolutism from its original sources to its tragic finale. The first chapter is dedicated to the birth of statehood in Russia. The second is an account of the history of the Rurikid princes - the first Russian dynasty. The third tells the story of the Time of Troubles, when the state was on the verge of complete ruin. The fourth begins with the coronation of Michael Romanov and ends with the execution of the last Russian autocrat, Nicholas II, and his family. We know the names of the leaders of popular revolts, kings and khans, but we often know very little about the personalities of the Russian tsars. These men and women were exceptional in many ways. Besides ruling one of the greatest empires that the world has ever known, many were fascinating personalities in their own right. Not all of them were ideal rulers. Like all human beings, they had their own faults, passions, feelings and habits. The only difference is that private individuals control only their own fates or those of their friends and relatives. The personal whims of a sovereign, however, can have enormous consequences for the history of the entire nation and the fates of his or her subjects and their descendants. This helps to explain our fascination with the people who, for many centuries, ruled over the Russian lands.