Reflecting on the history of Russia, a country straddling two continents, one comes to the conclusion that it combines features of Eastern despotism and Western civilisation - an explosive cocktail inevitably influencing the character of the Russian autocracy. We trace our tale of Russian absolutism from its original sources to its tragic finale. The first chapter is dedicated to the birth of statehood in Russia. The second is an account of the history of the Rurikid princes - the first Russian dynasty. The third tells the story of the Time of Troubles, when the state was on the verge of complete ruin. The fourth begins with the coronation of Michael Romanov and ends with the execution of the last Russian autocrat, Nicholas II, and his family. We know the names of the leaders of popular revolts, kings and khans, but we often know very little about the personalities of the Russian tsars. These men and women were exceptional in many ways. Besides ruling one of the greatest empires...
Reflecting on the history of Russia, a country straddling two continents, one comes to the conclusion that it combines features of Eastern despotism and Western civilisation - an explosive cocktail inevitably influencing the character of the Russian autocracy. We trace our tale of Russian absolutism from its original sources to its tragic finale. The first chapter is dedicated to the birth of statehood in Russia. The second is an account of the history of the Rurikid princes - the first Russian dynasty. The third tells the story of the Time of Troubles, when the state was on the verge of complete ruin. The fourth begins with the coronation of Michael Romanov and ends with the execution of the last Russian autocrat, Nicholas II, and his family. We know the names of the leaders of popular revolts, kings and khans, but we often know very little about the personalities of the Russian tsars. These men and women were exceptional in many ways. Besides ruling one of the greatest empires...
Иллюстрированное издание на английском языке. Размышляя о прошлом России, приходишь к выводу, что наша страна, располагающаяся на двух континентах, европейском и азиатском, всегда сочетала в себе черты восточных деспотий и европейских цивилизаций, что отразилось и на характере российского самодержавия. Мы поведем рассказ о русском абсолютизме от его истоков до трагического финала. Начальная глава посвящена зарождению государственности на Руси, вторая представляет собой изложение истории Рюриковичей - первой правящей династии. В третьей повествуется о Смутном времени, когда держава находилась на краю гибели. Четвертая начинается с момента прихода к власти представителя династии Романовых Михаила Федоровича, а заканчивается гибелью последнего русского самодержца Николая II и его семьи.
Illjustrirovannoe izdanie na anglijskom jazyke. Razmyshljaja o proshlom Rossii, prikhodish k vyvodu, chto nasha strana, raspolagajuschajasja na dvukh kontinentakh, evropejskom i aziatskom, vsegda sochetala v sebe cherty vostochnykh despotij i evropejskikh tsivilizatsij, chto otrazilos i na kharaktere rossijskogo samoderzhavija. My povedem rasskaz o russkom absoljutizme ot ego istokov do tragicheskogo finala. Nachalnaja glava posvjaschena zarozhdeniju gosudarstvennosti na Rusi, vtoraja predstavljaet soboj izlozhenie istorii Rjurikovichej - pervoj pravjaschej dinastii. V tretej povestvuetsja o Smutnom vremeni, kogda derzhava nakhodilas na kraju gibeli. Chetvertaja nachinaetsja s momenta prikhoda k vlasti predstavitelja dinastii Romanovykh Mikhaila Fedorovicha, a zakanchivaetsja gibelju poslednego russkogo samoderzhtsa Nikolaja II i ego semi.