Table of Contents

Preface; Abbreviations, dates, spellings and transliteration; List of Illustrations; Family Trees; Introduction; 1. Romanov Roots, 1613-45: Michael; 2. The Pious Tsars, 1645-96: Alexis, Fedor and Ivan V; 3. Transformation, 1682-1725: Peter the Great; 4. The Age of Empresses and Palace Revolutions, 1725-62: Catherine I, Peter II, Anna, Ivan VI, Elizabeth, Peter III; 5. Philosopher on the Throne, 1762-96: Catherine II; 6. The Napoleonic Era, 1796-1825: Paul and Alexander I; 7. Consistent Autocracy, 1825-55: Nicholas I; 8. Reform and Reaction, 1855-94: Alexander II and Alexander III; 9. The Last Romanov: Nicholas II (i) 1894-1913; 10. From Celebration to Annihilation: Nicholas II (ii) 1913-1918; 11. Postscript, 1918-2007; Bibliography; Index.

About the Author

Lindsey Hughes was an internationally renowned authority on 17th and 18th century Russian history, in particular on the age of Peter the Great. As well as teaching at London University's School of Slavonic and East European Studies, where she was a professor and head of the history department, she wrote prolifically and was a valued member of an influential cohort of scholars brought together in the Eighteenth-Century Russia Study Group founded in 1968 by Anthony Cross. She passed away in 2007 shortly after having completed this final book.

Reviews

'Ony {Hughes} ... could have written such a wide-ranging, scholarly and captivating distillation of the entire history of the Romanov family. The book is enlivened at all points by discussions of painting, architecture, and statuary; Hughes's command of detail is stunning.' David Saunders, School of Historical Studies, Newcastle University

"Vivid portrait of the entire Romanov family, who shaped Russian history and politics so pwerfully" Bookseller Buyers Guide,1 January 2008

'More than a testimony to Hughes' remarkable spirit, this is the best book in English on the subject, illuminated by a deep knowledge of Russia's imperial past, wide in scope yet admirable in its concision, and infused with a subtlety of interpretation free of the overheated, romantic treatment that has clouded most previous accounts.' Douglas Smith, The Times Literary Supplement, July 2008.

"a history achieved with consummate skill...an illuminating and admirably balanced narrative account" Reviewed in Literary Review, 2008

Recommended book in Publishing News, 8 February 2008