Secret Lives of the Tsars by Michael Farquhar

Secret Lives of the Tsars by Michael Farquhar

"Michael Farquhar doesn't write about history the way, say, Doris Kearns Goodwin does. He writes about history the way Doris Kearns Goodwin's smart-ass, reprobate kid brother might. I, for one, prefer it."-Gene Weingarten, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and Washington Post columnist

Scandal! Intrigue! Cossacks! Here the world's most engaging royal historian chronicles the world's most fascinating imperial dynasty- the Romanovs, whose three-hundred-year reign was remarkable for its shocking violence, spectacular excess, and unimaginable venality. In this incredibly entertaining history, Michael Farquhar collects the best, most captivating true tales of Romanov iniquity. We meet Catherine the Great, with her endless parade of virile young lovers (none of them of the equine variety); her unhinged son, Paul I, who ordered the bones of one of his mother's paramours dug out of its grave and tossed into a gorge; and Grigori Rasputin, the "Mad Monk," whose mesmeric domination of the last of the Romanov tsars helped lead to the monarchy's undoing. From Peter the Great's penchant for personally beheading his recalcitrant subjects (he kept the severed head of one of his mistresses pickled in alcohol) to Nicholas and Alexandra's brutal demise at the hands of the Bolsheviks, Secret Lives of the Tsars captures all the splendor and infamy that was Imperial Russia.

Praise for Secret Lives of the Tsars

"An accessible, exciting narrative . . . Highly recommended for generalists interested in Russian history and those who enjoy the seamier side of past lives."-Library Journal (starred review)

"An excellent condensed version of Russian history . . . a fine tale of history and scandal . . . sure to please general readers and monarchy buffs alike."-Publishers Weekly

"Tales from the nasty lives of global royalty . . . an easy-reading, lightweight history lesson."-Kirkus Reviews

"Readers of this book may get a sense of why Russians are so tolerant of tyrants like Stalin and Putin. Given their history, it probably seems normal."-The Washington Post

Michael Farquhar's books include A Treasury of Royal Scandals, A Treasury of Great American Scandals, and A Treasury of Deception, as well as A Treasury of Foolishly Forgotten People. He is the coauthor of The Century: History on the Front Page of the Capital's Newspaper, and his work has appeared in newspapers such as the Washington Post, where he worked for eleven years as a writer and editor. He's also appeared as a pundit on shows like Russia: Land of the Tsars and The French Revolution on the History Channel. Michael is a resident of Washington, D.C.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780812979053
ISBN 10	0812979052
Title	Secret Lives of the Tsars
Author	Michael Farquhar
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	2014-07-08
Number of pages	368
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.