"To compensate a little for the treachery and weakness of my memory, so extreme that it has happened to me more than once to pick up again, as recent and unknown to me, books which I had read carefully a few years before . . . I have adopted the habit for some time now of adding at the end of each book . . . the time I finished reading it and the judgment I have derived of it as a whole, so that this may represent to me at least the sense and general idea I had conceived of the author in reading it." (Montaigne, Book II, Essay 10 (publ. 1580))

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Romanovs - 1613 - 1918 (Simon Sebag Montefiore, 2016)

"Larger than life" is rather an understatement with these folks (and perhaps with Russia in general).

Key dates to memorize, at least roughly:
  • Ivan the Terrible (not a Romanov) - rules 1547 through 1584
  • Michael I - first Romanov - rule commences 1613 
  • Peter the Great rules 1682 through 1725
  • Catherine the Great rules from 1762 through 1796
  • Alexander I (after his father is strangled) (dealing with Napoleon) - rules from 1801 through 1825
  • Alexander II - reform efforts, then repression - rules 1855 through 1881
  • Nicholas II rules 1894 through 1917
I like the author's writing style, as with here, and also here.

Separate biographies of Catherine the Great and Peter the Great; also "Nicholas and Alexandra" - naturally offered more detail as to those folks; but this is a constantly interesting overview of the entire dynasty.  The author states that extensive archives were now available - not accessible to earlier biographers - the detail is rather amazing - I had no idea so many letters etc. had survived.

Discussions of early negotiations supporting disputes - continuing in 21st century - over relationship of Ukraine to Russia.

Transfers of power were really dangerous for these folks!

Descendants esp. of Catherine the Great - a real question whether there was any Romanov blood involved.  (That likely would apply to plenty of royal families.)

Success in Napoleonic wars but military/technological stagnation - obvious backwardness as 19th century advances; culminating in humiliation at Tsushima, with dire consequences.

Interesting how anti-Semitism pops up here, especially in 19th century.  Nicholas as a big fan of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Close-connectedness to Germany.

A helpful retelling of the Nicholas-Alexandra situation - incredibly isolated even from Russian nobility - I hadn't recalled that they kept the heir's hemophilia a secret.

A little less on the numerous court love affairs would have been fine by me . . . but I guess that was a big part of who these people were, and the overall court dynamics.

Consistently interesting, useful window on various events over those 300 years.

Christmas gift from PJr/NRG.

No comments: