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Secret Lives of the Tsars

Three Centuries of Autocracy, Debauchery, Betrayal, Murder, and Madness from Romanov Russia

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Secret Lives of the Tsars

By: Michael Farquhar
Narrated by: Enn Reitel
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About this listen

 “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 18th Century Europe Modern Politics & Activism Royalty Russia Imperialism Soviet Union

Critic reviews

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

Praise for 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
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Secret lives of the Tsars- such an interesting and informative audiobook to listen to. Gripping, but sad listening.

Secret lives of the Tsars fascinating and thought provoking.

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Gripped from chapter one and I didn't want chapter 18 and the finale to ever come, I've long loved the mystery of the Russian Tsars, of the mighty cossacks, mad monk Rasputin and the beauty of St Petersburg - I wasn't disappointed, this book has it all. I never realised the 300 year reign of the Romanov dynasty was so full of madness, so much death and that the final end of Nicolas & Alexander and their children was so gruesome.

it's a long book, it takes some serious listening but it's well recorded and while I don't remember the names of every character, I feel I know a lot more than I did.

Rasputin, what a man he was! No one Boney M made a song about him, he deserved one for all the madness in his short life - "Ra Ra Rasputin, lover of the Russian Queen".... and quite a few more besides it seems?

Incredible - Dark - Horrific - Inspiring

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We'll written and narrated. The book showed me many things about the Tsars I hadn't known and reminded me of many facts I knew. A good book that's not hard to listen to. Recommended for historians and non historians alike.

The Tsars.

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Gosh. What a bunch , mainly vain, egotistical, over sexed and pathological.
Fascinating insight into how a family treat a whole nation.
Did shed a tear for how the Romonav dynasty ended .
Never any need .

How people behave because they're rulers!?

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