The Romanovs: Autocrats of All the Russias [Hardcover]

W. Bruce Lincoln (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1981

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 brilliantly 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 men and women who knew them.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

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 brilliantly 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 men and women who knew them. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap

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 brilliantly 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 men and women who knew them. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 852 pages
• Publisher: The Dial Press; 1st Edition. edition (September 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385271875
• ISBN-13: 978-0385271875
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,073,548 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Readable Account of Imperial Russia's Rulers, December 4, 2003

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This review is from: The Romanovs: Autocrats of All the Russias (Hardcover)

W. Bruce Lincoln's history of the 300 years of Romanov rule in Russia (1613-1917) is easily his most readable account of Russian history. While Professor Lincoln's research is meticulous as ever, in this volume he has to cover far more ground than in his other more focused histories and thus he avoids some of the digressions that he normally might allow himself. The result is a superb one-volume history of the Tsars and Tsarinas who determined Russia's development from a minor principality into the largest empire on earth.

The Romanovs consists of four parts: Muscovite beginnings (1613-1689), the Rise of an Empire (1689-1796), Empire Triumphant (1796-1894) and the Last Emperor (1894-1917). The first three parts each consist of several chapters, with the first covering biographical details of the Tsars and Tsarinas in that period, followed by chapters on political and cultural changes in that period. There are only two significant problems with what is otherwise a superb presentation: a non-chronological methodology and a lack of a single supporting map of Romanov domains (there are two maps of St Petersburg's layout). In the first case, Lincoln tends to keep coming back to Tsars in subsequent chapters on culture, politics, etc which is very confusing. Indeed, he seems in a rush to plow through the biographies of the Tsars, then revisit their cultural accomplishments, then come back again and discuss their political accomplishments, and then maybe discuss a few scandals or wars. As for the lack of maps, it makes it extremely difficult for the reader to evaluate the territorial expansions of the various Romanov rulers or Russia's growth over three centuries.

Despite these two flaws, the Romanovs is a delightful read for anyone with a scholarly interest in Russian imperial history. Perhaps the three most significant rulers that Lincoln assesses are Peter the Great, Catherine the Great and Nicholas II. Most histories tend to elevate Peter to hero status, but Lincoln's evaluation is more mixed. While Peter gets great credit for pushing Russia to modernize, the costs he incurred may have been too great. In particular, Lincoln questions Peter's obsession with building his capital on totally unsuitable terrain; the fact that the Russians were able to eventually succeed in constructing Peter's dream capital often disguises the fact that the human and financial losses were exorbitantly wasteful. The reader will be left to ponder the question that if Peter had built his capital elsewhere, Russia's development might have been much less painful. As for Catherine, Lincoln prefers to minimize the scandal and corruption associated with her court and view this as the golden age of Russian cultural development. Finally, Nicholas II appears as even more of a fatalistic dolt bent on self-destruction than he did in Lincoln's previous books. In sum, The Romanovs provides a solid and very readable account of Russia's development under the Tsars and Tsarinas.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a "novelesque" history, December 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Romanovs: Autocrats of All the Russias (Paperback)

This is a great history of the Romanov dynasty that teeters between biography and the novel. In some places, it is literally a page-turner. It's not as analytical as some historical texts, but Lincoln provides more than enough information to allow the reader to make his/her own decisions. Every detail is perfectly groomed for presentation, and few stones are left unturned. This book is accessible (ie, those with little background in Russian history will find it intriguing and highly readable) and informative. The only complaint I have is that, occassionaly, it jumps around in time in peculiar ways (but this is not something that really causes one to get lost or confused).

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Sweeping in scale and minute in detail no book is better.", July 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Romanovs: Autocrats of All the Russias (Paperback)

W. Bruce Lincoln does the best job I've seen so far of covering the ENTIRE Romanov history and that of her mother Russia. From rise to fall no writer could have imagined a greater plot. It was once said "to understand the present you must look to the past". To understand modern day Russia I suggest you look to this book.