The Czar A tale of the Time of the First Napoleon

by Deborah Alcock

As the proverb tells us, “The holy Russian land is large, but everywhere the dear sun shines.” Many a gleam of sunlight, from the mercy of Him whose compassions are over all his works, brightens even the lot of servitude, that looks, and rightly looks, so dark and so degrading to the thoughtful observer. Had such an observer visited Nicolofsky on the bright afternoon of one of the Church holidays in the late Russian spring, he would have found some difficulty in remembering, and perhaps as much in persuading the mujiks, that they were an oppressed and miserable race.

442 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2007

About the author

Deborah Alcock (1835 – 1913) is best known as a late Victorian author of historical fiction focused on religious, evangelical themes.

Reviews

[Richard Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book for the most part. I enjoyed reading about Henri and Ivan's adventures during the Napoleon's War. I also enjoyed learning about Czar Alexander more. I never realised how godly and loving of a person he was. Now unto some of the things I didn't like about The Czar. Some things felt needless or just felt cramped. So because of the length, it was hard at times to stay engaged. But overall a good book.

[Surreysmum · Rating 2 out of 5]

[These notes were made in 1987. I read the London: Thomas Nelson, 1895 edition]. This book was published anonymously, as befitted the product of a respectable archdeacon's daughter in the late nineteenth century, but the library correctly identified it as the work of Deborah Alcock, which set me on my search for more details. All I got was the terms of her will, which confirmed what I already knew or suspected from The Czar - that she was an evangelical Protestant with a strong interest in missionary work among European Catholics. I also confirmed that she died a spinster, and not at all badly off, with an estate of about 10,000 pounds, and that she had written a biography of her Right Venerable father. Anyway, to get to The Czar, it's considerably more tolerable than one might expect, although it becomes increasingly obvious that the ultimate purpose of the book is the promotion of (1) the Christian religion and (2) Protestant evangelism. However, the very moderation of that progression (some of the main characters are allowed to keep their erring Catholic religion almost to the very end) is indicative of Alcock's method. She is obviously greatly influenced by prevailing Victorian theories of moral improvement through hero-worship, and sets up one extremely strong hero-worship relationship as the centre of her book - Ivan, and his hero the Czar Alexander. Alexander is given near-Christ-figure status, and there are frequent footnote protestations that accounts and anecdotes of his extraordinary piety are based entirely on fact. This hero-worship has an echo in that of Henri (brother-in-law to Ivan) for the Czar; Henri has the double function of setting the romantic plot (Ivan & Clemence) in motion, and being the first to discover Protestantism. (The Czar, being the head of the Orthodox Church, never did - this is his chief failure to fit into the mould Alcock has cast). Then there is young Emile whose (false) hero-worship for that devil incarnate, Napoleon, leads him astray a bit - he is, of course, converted - at least to admiration of Alexander. The men are, incidentally, all very much alike physically - blue-eyed and handsome. I believe these tales (Alcock wrote about half-a-dozen novels) - historically quite interesting and accurate, and religious in motivation - were also the nearest thing this maiden lady found to sexual fantasy. The Ivan-Clemence relationship, by the way, seems pretty unconvincing, particularly after the marriage.