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The Czars Kindle Edition

by James P. Duffy (Author), Vincent L. Ricci (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 292 ratings
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During the course of most of Russia's turbulent history, czars ruled. The story of these men and women - as diverse as the lands they governed - is, in many ways, the story of Russia itself. From the birth of the Kievan state in the second half of the ninth century to the murder of Czar Nicholas II and his family in 1918, historians James P. Duffy and Vincent L. Ricci trace the long and twisted line of imperial rule in Russia, offering many insights into the uses and abuses of absolute power, as well as a glimpse at world history through the eyes of those who made it. The Czars is a vital page in the literature of Russian history.
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    316 pages
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    English
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    June 21, 2015
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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YA?A detailed but very readable book about the rulers of the Russian Empire. The authors trace the monarchy from the rule of Rurik, a Viking, through 1000 years to its final demise with the execution of Nicholas II in 1918. Readers are guided through the skirmishes among rivals for power and the wars with outside forces on the road to the expansion of the empire. Each monarch is discussed in some detail. The book includes 17 illustrations of czars (part of a personal collection of one of the authors), several maps that show the development of the empire, and 4 geneological charts help track the order of succession. This title should be sought by YAs studying Russian history, literature, and language and will encourage readers to seek more comprehensive and scholarly works.?Barbara L. Arthur, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Duffy and Ricci (Target Hitler, Greenwood, 1992) offer a basic survey of Russian czardom from the legendary mists of the ninth century to the murder of Nicholas II in 1918. For the first 500 years, leaders were actually called grand princes, and their reigns were punctuated by endless internecine strife. Slowly, the "gathering of lands" under Moscow's leadership created a sense of nationhood. Though the authors offer little thematic analysis, they present an interesting series of profiles replete with colorful anecdotes. The entire cast of characters is presented-not just the movers and shakers like Peter the Great and Ivan the Terrible but the more obscure as well, e.g., the murderous Olga (945-955) and the hopelessly insane Paul (1796-1801). Duffy and Ricci provide unusually thorough coverage of the earlier centuries but by doing so are forced to race to the finish line. Still, most libraries should consider for the generally solid coverage.
Mark R. Yerburgh, Fern Ridge Community Lib., Veneta, Ore.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0105SNH4M
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ New Word City, Inc.; 1st edition (June 21, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 21, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3570 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 316 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 292 ratings

About the author

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James P. Duffy

James P. Duffy

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James P. Duffy is the author of over a dozen previous books, most on military history. His World War II titles include The Sinking of the Laconia and the U-Boat War, Target America, and Hitler's Secret Pirate Fleet. He has also written on the American Civil War and the rulers of Imperial Russia. He resides with his family in New Jersey.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
292 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Michael
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good read and packed with information
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2017
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I didn't know the history of the czars, but I do know some history of that region. I think this book covers an exceptionally large amount of history in a concise and readable format. I never got bored or thought the writing was stilted. I did have to refer back to past pages to keep the people and cities straight. A map and a "czar family tree" would have been helpful. I had the e-book, maybe it is in the hard cover edition.
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David Hoffman
4.0 out of 5 stars The History of Russia's Czars
Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2016
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There is a tendency, when writing of the history of a nation, to focus on the actions of rulers of that nation. American history books tend to divide American history by presidents, while British books differentiate the eras of British history by kings and queens, and later prime ministers, Chinese by dynasties, and so on. This approach is understandable since while kings and emperors may not have as much control over the events of the nations they rule as they would like, their reigns do provide convenient dividing points between periods and eras. Still, there is often a lot going on that has little to do with the actions of any rulers and a history focused on the ruling class risks overlooking many factors and events in the country's history.

This approach may be more justified in the case of Russian history, than in the histories of most other nations. For much of its history, Russia has been ruled by a strong, centralised government with political power vested in one man or woman, the Czar. The personality of Russia's Czar was the most powerful influence on the development of the Russian nation. Russia only became a unified nation when the earliest Czars were able to establish control over the unruly boards and the Orthodox Church, become strong enough to defeat the invading Mongols, Poles and Lithuanians and take the title of Czar. The history of Russia is the history of its Czars.

The Czars by James P. Duffy and Vincent L. Ricci tells the story of Russia's czars, from their messy beginnings as the Vikings who raided, traded, and then settled the vast Russian lands to the murder of Nicholas II at the hands of the Bolshevik revolutionaries. It is a fascinating story, well told by the two authors. They give a biography of every Czar, the early and obscure princes of Kiev and Muscovy no less than such titanic rulers as Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, giving something of the personalities and lives of each Czar as well as the historical circumstances of their reigns. I found the early history of the unification of Russia to be particularly interesting as this was a period that I didn't know much about. Most histories of Russia seem to cover this time in the first chapter before quickly moving on to Ivan the Great and his son Ivan the Terrible.

The only fault that I can find with The Czars is the absence of any maps. A map of the Ukraine and the European part of Russia would have been very handy, especially if it included all of the little principalities and cities that were absorbed by the growing Russian state in its earliest years. I found myself having to consult Google maps in order to get some idea of where the various regions of European Russia were in relation to each other and where the battles against the Mongols and the Poles took place. A genealogy of the two Russian dynasties, the Ruriks and the Romanovs would also have been useful, especially with the early Ruriks who had not yet established the tradition of handing down power from father to son, and with the more tumultuous times of trouble in which several short-lived and distantly related Czars followed one another in succession. Despite these shortcoming, I still found the Czars to be interesting and informative.
50 people found this helpful
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SSpoonster
5.0 out of 5 stars The Czars
Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2015
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This is a great comprehensive overview of the Russian Czars from beginning to end. It does not go into a huge amount of details on each individual czar (some more so than others), but it is still a fascinating read. The book definitely peaked my interest and leads me want to know more about these men and women. I would highly recommend for any history buff especially if you have even the slightest interest in Russian history.
4 people found this helpful
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Alexander
3.0 out of 5 stars you can easily guess the range of a researcher after the first ...
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2016
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There’s one problem with the history of Russia: up to the 16th century there are no reliable documents or proved sources about the previous period. Russian chronicles, the so called “letopisi” were rewritten numerous times in order to please a current ruler. And their tastes changed.
Perhaps, it’s not an obstacle for the authors of historical novels but rather a gruesome circumstance for real scholars. This peculiarity implies just one advantage: you can easily guess the range of a researcher after the first pages of his book. If he’s cautious about the facts and dates he may be knows his subject thoroughly (may be not). But if he is categorical, then… well… perhaps you’d better read Sir Walter Scott or R.L.Stevenson. Fairy tales about Robin Hood or Red Riding Hood are also not bad.
Mr. James P. Duffy’s and Mr. Vincent L. Ricci’s stories about the adventures of the Viking chieftains Askold and Dir and the geopolitical projects of the Kiev ruler Oleg are bold and picturesque. But unfortunately there is no other evidence of the existence of these protagonists except for some vague mentions in Russian chronicles written four or five hundred years later. And evidently it is not enough to consider these persons real. Although Askold and Dir were recently beatified by non-canonical Ukranian church to spite Moscow.
Nevertheless Mr. James P. Duffy and Mr. Vincent L. Ricci describe them and other legendary characters without any hesitation. It does honour to their vivid imagination but not to their approach. There are a lot of historical errors and unsubstantiated suggestions in their book.
I am sure the authors have their merits, but not in the field of history. Perhaps they are good basketball players or distinguished cooks at McDonalds’.
In all the cases they shouldn’t write historic books. For the sake of history.
8 people found this helpful
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Jonathan Jesse
4.0 out of 5 stars Slow in parts but still enjoyable
Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2017
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It's sad how much world history isn't taught these days. I learned a lot about people and places I've never heard of.
This is a great level set of history if Russia and I would recommend it. While there seemed to be some slow parts overall it flowed well.

Like I said so much isn't taught about other ayers in history. Read this and learn about the czars of Russia
3 people found this helpful
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CBGB
5.0 out of 5 stars everyone knows about Peter the Great, Catherine the Great and Ivan the terrible
Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2015
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I am big Russian history buff, so this detailed account was a pleasure to read. As the author states, everyone knows about Peter the Great, Catherine the Great and Ivan the terrible, but this account cover every single one, even those who only ruled for a few weeks. The Czars is not really for scholars of Russian history, but it is full of interesting anecdotes, like it took four men to move Catherine the great when she died because of her obesity (surprisingly little on her supposedly lurid sex life.) Russia's history is a bloody, rather tragic one, and the infighting which this book details explains why. The conclusion I reached after following the inheritance of power and bloodlines, is that the late Czars weren't really Russian at all. They essentially became German with the ascension of Catherine the great.
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Top reviews from other countries

SCS
5.0 out of 5 stars A sweeping tour of the history of Russia
Reviewed in Canada on September 10, 2017
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This book takes in a long time,period describing the succession of rulers of this vast country. It does so with clear, readable prose. Understanding Russia today is much easier after reading this book.
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carina doran
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in Australia on October 3, 2020
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Easy to read and very informative
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Housewife, Burgess Hill
3.0 out of 5 stars Have read half so far - got a bit bored of the constant details of baggage trains
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 27, 2015
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Have read half so far - got a bit bored of the constant details of baggage trains, war equipment and the minutiae of the Russian court. The history has got a bit bogged down. Will finish it though if it picks up a bit!!
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in Canada on October 1, 2017
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Well done a good read.
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EQ Expert
4.0 out of 5 stars Petersburg and going to the St Peter & Paul Cathedral which contains the tombs of all the Czars since Peter the Great. This book
Reviewed in Australia on March 31, 2017
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I was prompted to read this book after visiting St. Petersburg and going to the St Peter & Paul Cathedral which contains the tombs of all the Czars since Peter the Great. This book is a good introduction to the reigns of the Czars. Of course you do get overwhelmed with names but there are some wonderful stories. My favourite occurred in 998 when Vladimir deciding Russia needed a state religion organised a pitch fest between Islam, Judaism, the Catholic Christianity of Western Europe, and the Orthodox Christianity of Eastern Europe. Why and how he chose the last in the list is worth knowing..
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