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Czars: Russia's Rulers for More Than One Thousand Years (Serial) Hardcover – January 1, 1995
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- Print length372 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherFacts on File
- Publication dateJanuary 1, 1995
- Dimensions1.25 x 6 x 9.25 inches
- ISBN-100816028737
- ISBN-13978-0816028733
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This approach may be more justified in the case of Russian history, than in the histories of most other nations. For much of its history, Russia has been ruled by a strong, centralised government with political power vested in one man or woman, the Czar. The personality of Russia's Czar was the most powerful influence on the development of the Russian nation. Russia only became a unified nation when the earliest Czars were able to establish control over the unruly boards and the Orthodox Church, become strong enough to defeat the invading Mongols, Poles and Lithuanians and take the title of Czar. The history of Russia is the history of its Czars.
The Czars by James P. Duffy and Vincent L. Ricci tells the story of Russia's czars, from their messy beginnings as the Vikings who raided, traded, and then settled the vast Russian lands to the murder of Nicholas II at the hands of the Bolshevik revolutionaries. It is a fascinating story, well told by the two authors. They give a biography of every Czar, the early and obscure princes of Kiev and Muscovy no less than such titanic rulers as Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, giving something of the personalities and lives of each Czar as well as the historical circumstances of their reigns. I found the early history of the unification of Russia to be particularly interesting as this was a period that I didn't know much about. Most histories of Russia seem to cover this time in the first chapter before quickly moving on to Ivan the Great and his son Ivan the Terrible.
The only fault that I can find with The Czars is the absence of any maps. A map of the Ukraine and the European part of Russia would have been very handy, especially if it included all of the little principalities and cities that were absorbed by the growing Russian state in its earliest years. I found myself having to consult Google maps in order to get some idea of where the various regions of European Russia were in relation to each other and where the battles against the Mongols and the Poles took place. A genealogy of the two Russian dynasties, the Ruriks and the Romanovs would also have been useful, especially with the early Ruriks who had not yet established the tradition of handing down power from father to son, and with the more tumultuous times of trouble in which several short-lived and distantly related Czars followed one another in succession. Despite these shortcoming, I still found the Czars to be interesting and informative.
Perhaps, it’s not an obstacle for the authors of historical novels but rather a gruesome circumstance for real scholars. This peculiarity implies just one advantage: you can easily guess the range of a researcher after the first pages of his book. If he’s cautious about the facts and dates he may be knows his subject thoroughly (may be not). But if he is categorical, then… well… perhaps you’d better read Sir Walter Scott or R.L.Stevenson. Fairy tales about Robin Hood or Red Riding Hood are also not bad.
Mr. James P. Duffy’s and Mr. Vincent L. Ricci’s stories about the adventures of the Viking chieftains Askold and Dir and the geopolitical projects of the Kiev ruler Oleg are bold and picturesque. But unfortunately there is no other evidence of the existence of these protagonists except for some vague mentions in Russian chronicles written four or five hundred years later. And evidently it is not enough to consider these persons real. Although Askold and Dir were recently beatified by non-canonical Ukranian church to spite Moscow.
Nevertheless Mr. James P. Duffy and Mr. Vincent L. Ricci describe them and other legendary characters without any hesitation. It does honour to their vivid imagination but not to their approach. There are a lot of historical errors and unsubstantiated suggestions in their book.
I am sure the authors have their merits, but not in the field of history. Perhaps they are good basketball players or distinguished cooks at McDonalds’.
In all the cases they shouldn’t write historic books. For the sake of history.
This book, at only 420 pages, is an excellent primer highlighting the Russian monarchy from its beginning in 862 to the end in 1917. While not an in-depth look at any individual Czar, I found it quite interesting, leaving me with the mission to read much more about them. Especially Ivan IV (“The Terrible”) Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Nicholas I, and the most well known of them all - Nicolas II. I found this book to be an excellent starting resource regarding the history of The Czars. Recommended.



