Edward Crankshaw (1909–1984)

This book tackles an ambitious piece of Russian history: the near century of imperial rule leading up to the 1917 Russian Revolution. The reigns of tsars Nicholas I, Alexander II, Alexander III, and Nicholas II are covered. The focus is on the political outlook and policies of each ruler are discussed, giving the reader a sense of how Russia responded to reforms, repressions, and everything in between. I am not certain I can concur with the author's conclusions about the Russian people, the autocratic system, and why reform was so difficult, but I hope to find more extensive and updated research on this topic in other sources. Overall, this book made for an interesting read on why the Romanov dynasty collapsed, although it did make for dense reading at times (as one might expect when condensing so much history into less than 400 pages).… (lisätietoja)