Romanov: The Last Tsarist Dynasty

by Michael W. Simmons

The Romanov family ruled as tsars and emperors of all Russia for just over three hundred years—nineteen men and women in total, some of them brilliant, some of them mad, most of them somewhere in between.

The story of the Romanovs begins in Moscow in 1613, and ends in Ekaterinburg in 1918, at the beginning of a revolution, where Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and their five children were slaughtered by a Soviet death squad.

In this book, you will learn about the lives and reigns of each Romanov emperor and empress. Read about Peter the Great, who kept company with peasants and pie sellers but had his own son tortured to death; Catherine the Great, who finally convinced Europe that there was more to be found in the far north than just snow and barbarians; Alexander I, the gallant emperor who famously defeated Napoleon in 1812; Alexander II, who freed the serfs and survived five assassination attempts before perishing in the sixth; and Nicholas II, who ended the Romanov dynasty in 1917 when he abdicated the throne on behalf of himself and his son, the hemophiliac Alexei, who would never be emperor but is now considered a saint.


The Romanov Dynasty

Michael I (1613-1645)

Alexei I (1645-1676)

Fyodor III (1676-1682)

Sofia Alekseyevna, regent for co-tsars Ivan V and Peter I (1682-1689)

Ivan V (1682-1696)

Peter the Great (1682-1725)

Catherine I (1725-1727)

Peter II (1727-1730)

Anna I (1730-1740)

Anna, Duchess of Courland, regent for Ivan VI (October 1740-December 1741)

Elizaveta I (1741-1761)

Peter III (January 1762-July 1762)

Catherine the Great (1762-1796)

Paul I (1796-1801)

Alexander I (1801-1825)

Nicholas I (1825-1855)

Alexander II (1855-1881)

Alexander III (1881-1894)

Nicholas II (1894-1917)

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Audiobook, Russia, Historical

176 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 17, 2016

Reviews

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Concise accounting of the Romanov dynasty through three hundred years of history.

[Millennial Book Review · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gives a very brief overview of the Romanov dynasty. The author doesn't go into much detail about every tsar, instead giving the reader a feel more for the personality of each ruler than the historical events that occurred during each ruler's reign. I feel like this book would be a good starting point or reference material for those wanting to learn more about Russian history. The writing is a bit dry, but that's not abnormal for this kind of book.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Short overviews of the different Romanov rulers and a good starting point to learn more about them.

[Christopher Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid summary of 400 years of Romanov history. It’s essentially sparknotes of history.

[Bea Bassan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sooo interesting I got so hooked I read it all in a day even though I have to study for my physics exam tomorrow

[trish rohrman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lacks details. An entire 7 minutes of reading is devoted to a 30 year reign. Makes no sense. Very disappointed. Won't read this author again. I learned more on Wikipedia, and even that gave me more info.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. Very skimpy on details. Even not always reliable Wikipedia gave me more insight.

[Larry Hightower · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primer

Good starting point for an overview. This was enough to make me want to read more on a fascinating topic.

[Patrick J McGuigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief overview

Not a bad overview. While it tree tops 300 of the most important years in Russian history, one does get a feeling for the personalities of the Tsars.

[Teardra · Rating 3 out of 5]

dry but informative

[Carolyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars. This book spans a 200+ year dynasty in less than 200 pages. It has a lot of information and is a nice way to get a overview of the Romanov reign but it definitely reads like a 9th grade history book. I'd like to learn a more in-depth history of a few of their rulers, but this was only mildly interesting for me.

[JEAN GRUNDY · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read some other reviews on this book they complained because it didn't give enough details about the Romanovs well if you want details you with have to read books on each individual Tsar and then that would be at least a thousand pages plus. Really it is a great short history of the Romanovs.

[Nancy Sellers · Rating 3 out of 5]

A World History Teacher's Review.

The story as told was accurate but I found it a bit boring. One would wish that the characters were more rounded but in all, seemed a bit wooden. More life in the subjects would have made the book very long. In all, I did enjoy the well written book.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too brief except for those who like Cliff's Notes' version of books. Several inaccuracies noted as well. As a freebie, not a bad book, but l wouldn't pay real money for it!

[lin howe]

WELL WRITTEN. WHAT A SHAME TO END THE DYNASTY THE WAY IT DID.

[Kim Woodbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting overview of the Romanov family, which I didn’t know much about. Not very deep about individuals, but I learned a lot.

[Elena Miteva]

spoiler alert: everyone in this book dies

joke aside, I really didn’t expect so much violent death, but then again, it’s the Middle Ages, and its Russia, so .. joke’s on me

[Ellen · Rating 1 out of 5]

A very basic outline.