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caidyn's review
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Interesting book about a tsar that's never covered much given the end of the Romanov dynasty and his grandson. But it gives great context to the tensions brewing that eventually overthrew his grandson. Very good and it's making me want to read Dostoyevsky!
abehab's review
2.0
‘’Like all reformers who followed him, including Mikhail Gorbachev, he failed to understand this basic truth: Starting reforms in Russia is dangerous, but it is much more dangerous to stop them.”
Edvard Radzinsky's book on the times and legacy of Tsar Alexander II is a work that offers a broad look into the life of one of Russia's most consequential rulers. It delves into his blueprint for modernization and reform of the Russian people and the massive empire that had been entrusted to him. By exploring the revolutionary repercussions that Alexander II had on his country, Radzinsky provides a window into how history can be shaped by one man's decisions in pivotal times.
The first part of the book starts by briefly going over the history of The Romanov Tsars and Tsarinas; from the time of Peter the Great up to the tumultuous reign of Nicholas I. The second part discusses Tsar Alexander II from the time of his coronation (September 7, 1856) until the Franco-Prussian war (July 19, 1870 – May 10, 1871). The third part is devoted to the revolutionary underground movements in Russia throughout the reign of Alexander II. The fourth and final part, titled ‘’The Return of the Tsar Liberator’’ covers the last years of the Tsar.
‘’He wanted to get rid of the slavery, the backbone of Russian life. The enlightened Russian landowners, those admirers of Voltaire and Rousseau, who collected priceless libraries in their country homes, bought, sold, and gambled away their serfs, sometimes even trading them for hunting dogs, and whipped them mercilessly in the stables.’’
Alexander II's reforms were a revolutionary set of changes that had a long-lasting effect on Russian political and societal life. These reforms, which began in 1861 and lasted until 1881, were aimed at modernizing and liberalizing the vast Russian Empire and transforming it into a state that can rival Europe. They included abolishing serfdom, introducing local government, reforming the judicial system, and introducing military reforms. The two major reforms that were very significant were the Zemstvo reform of 1864, which acquainted Russia with local government institutions, and the judicial reform, which established a system of independent courts regulated by modern principles of legal procedure. The justice reform especially had a serious shortcoming in that it didn’t cater for the peasants, which were roughly 85% of the population.
Portrait of Tsar Alexander II (1818 - 1881)
Alexander II is synonymous with the emancipation of the serfs, which his great-grandmother, Catherine the Great, wanted to accomplish but never did. However, I felt that the book doesn’t discuss the emancipation manifesto of 1861 as well as it ought to. That’s a very serious lapse. Since the manifesto was the Tsar’s greatest achievement, it would’ve been a great opening for Radzinsky to make the case for the book's basic thesis. In my opinion, for the most part, the book has failed to show why exactly he was ‘’The Last Great Tsar’’. Maybe a lot was lost in translation. But then again, maybe not. This is a bit of a letdown because the book as a whole is not a bad book.
Alexander II also brought an end to the war in Crimea, albeit to a demoralising end. He finally annexed The Caucus, but at such a bloody price. In October 1867, He oversaw the conclusion of negotiations over the Alaska purchase that his father, Nicholas I, started fifteen years prior. The brutal Russo-Turkish War (April 24, 1877 – March 3, 1878) and the subsequent Treaty of Berlin are also part of the Tsar’s rather chequered legacy.
‘’All tender feelings of family, friendship, love, gratitude, and even honour must be squashed in a revolutionary by the sole passion for revolutionary work. For him there is only one solace, reward, and satisfaction - the success of the revolution’’
Catechism for the Revolutionary
In 1869, Sergey Nechayev would write (allegedly along with the anarchist Mikhail Bakunin) a revolutionary manifesto called Catechism for the Revolutionary. The engine of revolution seemed unstoppable afterwards. Alexander II survived six attempts on his life. Some more humiliating than others. On the March 13, 1881 (March 1, 1881 Old Style), the Tsar was travelling in a carriage gifted to him by Napoleon III. He was flanked by six Cossack riders and two sleighs carrying the chief of police and the chief of the Tsar's guards. A bomb was hurled at the Royal convoy. The Tsar appeared to be unharmed. He stepped out of the carriage to assess the damage inflicted by the bomb. Soon after, a member of a revolutionary society (Narodnaya Volya to be more specific), approached the sovereign and flung a bomb at his feet. The Tsar didn’t survive the second bomb attack.
He was buried at The Petropavlovsky Cathedral. ‘’The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood’’ (Tserkovʹ Spasa na Krovi) in St. Petersburg was built on the site of the assassination. And thus the era of the reformist ruler came to an end. His reign ended with the insurmountable revolutionary fire he inadvertently lit. Konstantin Pobedonostsev, a conservative monarchist by all accounts, would write;
‘’[By the late 1870s, Alexander II was a] pitiful and unfortunate man whose will was exhausted and who wanted only the pleasures of the belly.”
This book is not exactly a scholarly work. It’s very much a popular history book as advertised. As pointed out by some readers, there is a mistake at the beginning of Chapter 16 in which Paul I is claimed to be the great-grandfather of Alexander II when in reality he was his grandfather. There are some historical anecdotes thrown here and there, to spice up the story. Not enough citations are used, and instead there are a lot of conjectures. But, It’s written in a smooth and soothing voice. To be totally candid, I saw more of Radzinsky’s dramatist side than his biographer side. Still, I feel like this is an important book because it covers an era of Russian history that is not extensively discussed in books written in English or translated into English.
meta1machin3's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Oddly read as very much part of the post-9/11 canon (odd as Radzinsky is thoroughly Russian) - very strong sentiments about terrorism (fair) and revolutionaries (a little less fair). I would have liked to know a bit more about Alexander himself and his court, but a fascinating look into 19th century Russia nonetheless.
armchairtraveler17's review
5.0
Absolutely riveting. My first baptism into Russian history of this time period, and I may never recover. One of my favorite aspects was the way Radzinsky weaves the stories of Russia's great authors into the stories of the tsars. I'll never read Dostoyevsky and others the same way again.
persey's review
3.0
I think Lytton Strachey must have been reincarnated as Edvard Radzinsky. It's the same style of biography; deliciously written, immediate, the facts of the subject's life synthesized and distilled into a highly engaging account, but also with its flaws of lacking rigor and relying too much on such imagined details as the quality of someone's stare or their thoughts, with a fair amount of conjecture in addition. Strachey was a groundbreaker. I have no sense of Radzinsky's place in Russian historiography, so perhaps he also invented the lightbulb, but this modern reader expects citations. A great read and as I didn't know much beyond the bare bones of 19th century Russian history quite informative.
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