{"product_id":"the-romanovs-1613-1918-cd-9781409166450","title":"The Romanovs","description":"The Romanovs were the most successful dynasty of modern times, ruling  a sixth of the world's surface. How did one family turn a war-ruined  principality into the world's greatest empire? And how did they lose it  all?    This is the intimate story of twenty tsars and  tsarinas, some touched by genius, some by madness, but all inspired by  holy autocracy and imperial ambition. Montefiore's gripping chronicle  reveals their secret world of unlimited power and ruthless  empire-building, overshadowed by palace conspiracy, family rivalries,  sexual decadence and wild extravagance, and peopled by a cast of  adventurers, courtesans, revolutionaries and poets, from Ivan the  Terrible to Tolstoy, from Queen Victoria to Lenin.   To rule  Russia was both imperial-sacred mission and poisoned chalice: six tsars  were murdered and all the Romanovs lived under constant threat to their  lives. Peter the Great tortured his own son to death while making Russia  an empire, and dominated his court with a dining club notable for  compulsory drunkenness, naked dwarfs and fancy dress. Catherine the  Great overthrew her own husband - who was murdered soon afterwards -  loved her young male favourites, conquered Ukraine and fascinated  Europe. Paul was strangled by courtiers backed by his own son, Alexander  I, who faced Napoleon's invasion and the burning of Moscow, then went  on to take Paris. Alexander II liberated the serfs, survived five  assassination attempts, and wrote perhaps the most explicit love letters  ever written by a ruler. THE ROMANOVS climaxes with a fresh,  unforgettable portrayal of Nicholas and Alexandra, the rise and murder  of Rasputin, war and revolution - and the harrowing massacre of the  entire family.   Written with dazzling literary flair, drawing on  new archival research, THE ROMANOVS is at once an enthralling story of  triumph and tragedy, love and death, a universal study of power, and an  essential portrait of the empire that still defines Russia today.  Read by Simon Russell Beale  MP3 ON CD - THIS MP3-CD CANNOT BE PLAYED ON ALL DISC PLAYERS. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ACCESS TO AN MP3 COMPATIBLE DEVICE.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49552017490193,"sku":"GOR009941241","price":139.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49583601025297,"sku":"GOR010074888","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50374147834129,"sku":"CIN1409166457G","price":17.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53563339407633,"sku":"GOR014962373","price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1409166457.jpg?v=1751083876","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/the-romanovs-1613-1918-cd-9781409166450","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}