Describes the last century of the Russian imperial dynasty--a century that saw the greatest social and political upheavals in all of recorded history. Drawing upon a wealth of untapped resources from Russian, British, and American archives, including unpublished diaries of many of the principal characters and never-before-published photographs, Perry and Pleshakov render a portrait of a family and their time, from the youth of Alexander III in the 1860s to the death, one hundred years later, of his daughter Olga Alexandrovna, the last Grand Duchess. Set against the backdrop of this most cataclysmic century, this book is for anyone interested in this fascinating dynasty, Russian history, and the history of European royalty.--From publisher description.

Ch. I. Death of a Tsar, March 1, 1881 -- Ch. II. The Muzhik Tsar, 1881-1894 -- Ch. III. Nicholas II: Family and Nation, 1894-1904 -- Ch. IV. A Faltering Monarchy, 1905-1914 -- Ch. V. The Great War, 1914-1917 -- Ch. VI. "The Crown Falls from the Royal Head," February 22-March 3, 1917 -- Ch. VII. The First Week of the Republic, March 3-March 11, 1917 -- Ch. VIII. "The Mood Smells of Blood," March-October 1917 -- Ch. IX. Firestorm, October 1917-January 1919 -- Ch. X. "Open the Gates!" February 1919-February 1920 -- Ch. XI. Stateless -- Ch. XII. "We Should Act!" -- Ch. XIII. "Always Be Visible" -- Ch. XIV. "Escape Contact with Allies at Any Cost" -- Ch. XV. The End of the Line -- Ch. XVI. "Eternal Memory"