Secret Lives of the Tsars: Three Centuries of Autocracy, Debauchery, Betrayal, Murder, and Madness from Romanov Russia

In a book that's more sordid lives than secret lives, Farquhar (Behind the Palace Doors) details the torture, murder, debauchery, and depravity that hallmarked the Romanov dynasty's 300-year reign (1613–1917). The author illuminates the lives of renowned Romanov rulers and their contributions to Russia, both good and bad, in an accessible, exciting narrative. Readers will gain insight into a nation governed by autocrats, slow to industrialize or modernize, and destined for revolution. Although the work offers intriguing details on the lives of each tsar, the author devotes the final three chapters entirely to Nicholas II, whose assassination in 1917 heralded the October Revolution. Pulling from both primary sources and the research of other Romanov biographers such as Robert K. Massie and Henri Troyat, this is certainly not the first volume to cover the entire dynasty. However, Farquhar, unlike other Romanov experts, is not a historian but rather a best-selling author of books on royal families and scandals.