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The Romanovs: Autocrats of All the Russias

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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.

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).

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.

Lincoln opens his book with a candidely written note to the reader explaining the intentions of his book. Quite rightly, he admits that a real account of so vast a subject would take several volumes of this size: instead, he has set out to put concisely and organically the history and biographies of the Romanovs, reflecting his own preferences, prejudices, and feelings. Such a task relies more on the author than the subject: thankfully, Lincoln is the most canny and insightful writers on the subject that I have ever come across. His book is a triumph in every sense; fair, complete, well-researched, and drawing from so many great resources that it seems as though Lincoln has drawn together every rich fountain of knowledge on his subject and made a great pool for every curious mind.

The scope of this book is stunning, but Lincoln's organization brings great coherence. First he details and outlines the lives, the personalities, and the administrations of a certain era of the Romanovs; then, in a series of subchapters, he details the events, the wars, the civil unrest, the art, and the accomplishments of that same period. Doing this, he has managed to collect in one relatively short volume what a myriad of books have tried to capture individually. The writing is fluid and lively: professional and not novelesque, but still managing to draw on the imagination of the reader while conveying clearly a great avalanche of knowledge.

The author does write from his own perspective, but his views are not overbearing, unfair, or masked with selective facts and underhanded reasoning: in short, the author is not trying to sell you to his point of view, and his understanding of the Romanovs is based in pure reasoning, not political bias or ideology. He clearly thinks little of Catherine II -- but he writes of her with remarkable understanding and honesty. His view is not unfounded: he presents her has a devout autocrat with a shrewd and tactful mind and great mastery over foreign policy who nevertheless was hypocritical in the lip-service she paid to the Enlightenment. Indeed, this is not a radical conclusion and many have come to it before. His views of Peter the Great seem mixed; the author reflects on the magnitude of Peter's accomplishments and the cost of status that eventually took its toll on the Russian identity. His portrayal of Nicholas I is particularly great, having written a separate biography on him, and treating him as every other does with a subject they know so well. The book covers well other topics, from the building of St. Petersburg and its great architechts, to a responsible chapter on the Gold and Iron ages of art and what they meant, in a larger sense, to Russia (He curiously leaves out the Mighty Five composers, which would have fit his theme quite well, but probably for brevity rather than oversight).

Lastly, the book treats the touchy subject of the last Tsar and the Revolutions with great skill. Unlike so many other authors who write on the topic with a predetermined political conclusion, Lincoln is a disciplined historian, and his duty (he knows) is to treat the past fairly. At no point in his sweeping and breathtaking final chapters does he fall into tendentious or snide language. He gives a great account of the mismanagement of the last regime, the interim governments, and the feelings of the Russian people, which confrims that the move to the Left was driven both naturally and by outside forces. Extremely responsible.

I was extremely skeptical when I picked this book up: I could not have been more pleased with it.

The entire Eastern section of Europe, extending from its natural geographical eastern boundry-- the Ural mountains--to the next geographical boundry to the west--the Carpathian Mountains in what is now eastern Slavic Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia) and Romania, is one flat space without natural barriers against invasion. As a result, all through history, this land of many different languages and cultures was overrun by invaders--the Vikings, the Swedes, the German/Teutonic Knights and the Monguls.

Early on, in their history, the inhabitants of this flat plain learned that a strong cntral authority was their only defense against foregn invasion and plunder. The establishment of Tsar of all the Russias was, therefore, an inevitable result of the geography of the location of the Russian people. If the diverse peoples of the Russian plain were to survive at all, they needed a strong autocratic authority to hold them together against the storms of military invasion. Consequently, in a very real way, the emmense authority that developed around the position of Tsar grew up out of the soil of the Russian plain.

If viewed in this light, many puzzling elements of Russian life can be better understood. The reason for their xenophobic reactions to outsiders and their servile attitude toward authority can all be drawn into sharper focus. No longer need we be reduced into racial stereotyping the Russian people as irresponsible children unready to accept the resposibilties of democratic government or as superstitious paranoids, frightened of any change. Their reactions to the world and acceptance of autocratic authority is the merely natural reaction of any people or culture who may have been similarly situated on a flat indefensible plain any where in the world.

Bruce Lincoln writes cogently about the sweeping history of the entire Romanov Dynasty. To be sure the autocratic rule of the Tsar did not begin with the crowning of Michael Romanov in 1613. The emergence and growth of the Principality of Moscow dating from 1300 had been accompanied by extremely autocratic rule. Indeed Ivan IV (called the Terrible) was the first prince of Moscow to take on the title of "Tsar of all the Russias" in 1547. However, when Ivan IV died without heirs in 1584, Russia entered into a 29 year peiod of time called "Time of Troubles" during which many boyer families competed for power. What resulted was a power vaccuum which allowed chaos, peasant revolts and suffering to reign at home and which invited foreign invasion from abroad. Only in 1613 did the boyers agree to settle on a single person for Tsar and elected Michael Romanov to that position.

From that point on the Russia began a rise to the position of world power that lasted until the time of Napoleon. Bruce Lincoln weaves an interesting tale as he follows the coarse of the Romanov Dynasty through the glory years of the Russian nation through the reigns of Michael, (reigned 1613-1645), his son, Alexis, (reigned 1645-1676) and grandson Peter the Great (reigned 1682- 1725)and on to the reigns of Peter's Tsarina Catherine I, (reigned 1725-1727), Peter and Catherine's daughter-in-law, Anne (reigned 1730-1740) and daughter Elizabeth (reigned 1741-1762). On to the reigns of Catherine the Great, (1762-1796), her grandsons, Alexander I, (1801-1825) and Nicholas I, (1825-1855).

With Nicholas I, Imperial Russia reached its apogee. The Decemberist Movement of 1825, the Crimean War (1853-1856) and the assassination of Nicholas I's son, Alexander II in 1881, all signalled the decline of the Russian Empire. The position of Tsar had lost its dynamism from Nicholas I on the Tsars were on the defensive, desperately attempting retain power rather than extend imperial influence. From the time of Nicholas I until the Revolution of 1917, the Tsars became more and more alienated from the real world and were thus gradually weakened until they were ripe to be overthrown. The bloodless Revolution of 1917 occurred as easily as a person kicking in a rotten door which fell off its hinges at the slightest impact.

The sweep of this book is grand, yet Bruce Lincoln's style of writing the holds the reader interest as if it were a novel.

Mr. Lincolm, unlike Robert Massie who wrote "Peter the Great," left me with the clear impression that he understood the source material he had at hand, and was able to verify through corroboration every thing he said. Some of the more incredible stories, or speculative rumors are left out. This does not make his work any less enjoyable, but it does lend Mr. Lincoln's work a feeling of solid thoroughness in its research--something that is lacking in Massie's book. If a story was left out, I felt quite confident that Mr. Lincoln knew of the story, but could not corroborate it to his satisfaction.

This book is very thorough and incredible in its vast sweep. But it is broken apart into major periods. Each period is further broken down into topics, such as political history, economic history, social history, and so on. This format makes the book quite useful as a reference as well as enjoyable to read. This is the best book on the story of the Romanov family in the English language to date. And I can see this book firmly establishing itself as a timeless classic, alongside Shelby Foote's "Civil War," or Gibbons, "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire."

I read this marvelous history several years ago, but it has stayed with me. Mr. Lincoln was able to weave the grand picture of Russia over this 300 year span. He was able to achieve this while making these historic figures both grand and human. I found this work so fascinating I have read most of the rest of Mr. Lincoln's literary endeavors and I have found them all wonderful.

This book is absolutely astounding for it's breath taking, and most unusual layout and scope. Lincoln has managed,apart from a somewhat strange dislike for Catherine II to put forth an honest and forthright account of the lives of the Romanov autocrats. This book is truly to be applauded.

This is an excellent history book. Even though I was had to read the book in many sittings, I never lost the train of thought of the author.

My only criticism is that I really wanted to learn more about Peter the Great and how he built St. Petersburg. I felt the book was lacking in this very important aspect of the history of Russia

Lincoln made a really tremendous accomplishment. He examined 300 year history of Romanov Dynasty in his peculiar way. Descriptions of military campaigns and court intrigues were very nice. But the most attractive part was one about Russian literature. He explained novels of great Russian writers and their relationships with Romanov Dynasty in such details that I could not help reading some of the novels.

When Peter the Great moved to St. Petersburg and forcefully imported Western European culture and europeanized his subject noblemen, a deep cleavage was made between aristocrats and peasant masses. That cleavage eventually led to the Revolution in 1917 under the weak personality of Nicholas II.

Lincoln excelled other historians in that he cast a new light upon Rasputin. In the fact that Rasputin recommended candidates for cabinet ministers to Aleksandra and she pressed her choices upon Nicholas, we should not forget the fact that Russian religious peasants prayed to Maria and Maria pressed the peasants' wishes to Jesus Christ or so did they believe. It seems to me that the whole Rasputin affair was politically arranged by extreme reactionaries with Nicholas' approval, though they miscalculated very much. This tragedy seems to have derived from the fact that the Tsar and aristocrats suspected each other. Lincoln provided many circumstantial evidences about this and just let readers judge it.

It would be very interesting to imagine what would have happened in Russia if Russian military machine had worked better and the Revolution had not happened. Protopopov must have become dead Rasputin's spokesman and a surge of religion would have dominated Russia and Balkan slavic countries.