The Romanovs 1613-1918 by Simon Sebag Montefiore
London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2016 ISBN 9781474600286
This is an epic book on an epic theme - the story of the rise and fall of one of the great dynasties of human history. From the first Romanov, Michael I, who reluctantly took the throne of what wasn't even really a country, to the last, Nicholas II who during his reign ruled from Vladivostok to west of Warsaw, the reader gets a potted history of the country, and an intimate look at the Romanov family and the wider royal families of Europe. The book covers 300 years, and by the time I got to the end, I'd almost forgotten the beginning, so great was the span of time and changes to Russia that this book covers.
There are a few themes that Montefiore brings out in his text. The first is the power of women during the rule of the Romanovs. Obviously Catherine the Great, but there were other female Tsars and Tsarinas who wielded great power. Women as mistresses also played an important part in the history of the dynasty, either being stalwart supporters of their lovers, or through inadvertantly bringing their paramour down. The inevitability of mistresses, and of Tsarinas managing them, flows through the book - there were very few happily married Tsars (Nicholas II being one of them).
The battle between Western influences and traditional Russian culture ebbed and flowed throughout the family over time. The early Tsars were truly Slavic, with their boyar clothes and brideshows, but they soon felt that, to truly become a world power, they had to modernise and take on Western forms of dress and behaviour. The constant friction between the two cultures had its apotheosis in 1917, when revolution broke out, partly fueled by the notion that the royal family were more German than Russian - an idea that would have horrified Nicholas, even as he wrote letters in English to his German wife. The cosmopolitanism of the royal family was at odds with the deep Russian-ness of the populace.
Montefiore also shows the reader how the Romanovs slowly cut themselves off from their natural supporters, the nobility. One can't be an autocrat and be alone, but by continually depriving the nobility of ancient rights - especially freeing the serfs, the family turned the nobles into a disgruntled part of society that felt that they had been cheated. Ironically, freeing the serfs also turned the peasants against the Tsar, as they started to agitate for rights and land, which the Tsars were reluctant to give.
The over-arching sweep of the family is a growth into power, with a some extraordinary individuals (Peter and Catherine, Alexander II) who made the most of their abilities to create the Russian empire as it became, and then of decline, with weakness, vacillation and debauchery claiming quite a few members over the 300 years of Romanov rule, epitomized by Nicholas II, who was emotionally and intellectually ill-equipped to rule in an increasingly complex world.
Montefiore has tackled this huge task with brio, wit and erudition. While keeping the focus on the family, its intrigues, squabbles and triumphs, he also, through judicious asides and footnotes, lets the reader enjoy other tidbits of history. One example I loved is that Vladimir Putin's grandfather was Rasputin's chef....
This is not a history of Russia; it is a history of the Romanovs: where both of those histories intersect, we learn Russian history, where they don't, we learn about the family. I think, if you wish to try to understand Russian history, this book plays an important part, but it is not the whole. Fortunately, while we learn, we are entertained, as sometimes this reads better than any fiction.
The apparatus of the book is useful, with a decent bibliography and index. Montefiore has chosen to split the book into various "Acts" with a list of "Players" at the beginning (somewhat like a Shakespearian play). This quirk has its uses, with a useful family tree at the beginning of each of these "Acts". Even with this assistance, it can be difficult to keep track of who is who and how they fit in to the milieu of the Romanov court and government.
Overall, this is a great book, and one I would recommend. I enjoyed it a lot.
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