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The Last Tsar

The Abdication of Nicholas II and the Fall of the Romanovs

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The Last Tsar

By: Tsuyoshi Hasegawa
Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
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About this listen

A HISTORY TODAY BOOK OF THE YEAR

'Certain to become the definitive work' DOUGLAS SMITH

'Elegantly written and magisterially researched' ROBERT SERVICE

'Masterful . . . a chilling lesson' VLADISLAV ZUBOK

The definitive story behind the self-destruction of the autocratic Romanov dynasty, by the world's foremost expert.

When Tsar Nicholas II fell from power in 1917, Imperial Russia faced a series of overlapping crises, from war to social unrest. Though Nicholas's life is often described as tragic, it was not fate that doomed the Romanovs - it was poor leadership and a blinkered faith in autocracy.

Based on a trove of new archival discoveries, The Last Tsar narrates how Nicholas's resistance to reform doomed the monarchy. Encompassing the captivating personalities of the era, it untangles the struggles between the increasingly isolated Nicholas and Alexandra and the factions of scheming nobles, ruthless legislators, and pragmatic generals who sought to stabilize the restive Russian empire either with the Tsar or without him. By rejecting compromise, Nicholas undermined his supporters at crucial moments. His blunders cleared the way for all-out civil war and the eventual rise of the Soviet Union.

Definitive and engrossing, The Last Tsar uncovers how Nicholas II stumbled into revolution, taking his family, the Romanov dynasty, and the whole Russian Empire down with him.©2024 Tsuyoshi Hasegawa (P)2024 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
Eastern Military Royalty

Critic Reviews

An intimate and highly absorbing account of Russia's last hereditary autocrat. It is likely to be the definitive one for many years to come. From the cult surrounding Rasputin to the tense minute-by-minute plotting of the generals, Duma politicians, aristocrats, and the tsar himself, The Last Tsar brilliantly conveys the messy reality of imperial power coming apart at the seams (Lewis Siegelbaum, Emeritus Professor, Michigan State University)
Mesmerising and damning (Daily Telegraph)
An impressive, often brilliant book. The detail is mind-boggling and the skill with which political convolutions are unravelled is admirable (The Times)

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