The Last Tsar: The Abdication of Nicholas II and the Fall of the Romanovs

The definitive history of the self-destruction of the autocratic Romanov dynasty.

“Filled with revelations and fresh insights and rich with observations.” —The Wall Street Journal

In 1917, Imperial Russia faced a series of overlapping crises, from war to social unrest, that culminated in Tsar Nicholas II’s dramatic fall from power. Though Nicholas’s life is often described as tragic, a trove of new archival discoveries confirms that it was not fate that doomed the monarchy, but the tsar’s own poor leadership, blinkered faith in autocracy, and resistance to reform. The Last Tsar untangles the struggles between the era’s captivating personalities: 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.

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.