The Romanovs: 1613-1918
Simon Sebag Montefiore (Author)
Paperback: 736 pages
Publisher: W&N; (1 Feb. 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1474600875
ISBN-13: 9781474600873
Product Dimensions: 13.2 x 4.6 x 19.6 cm
Book description
The Romanovs were the most successful dynasty of modern times, ruling a sixth of the world's surface. How did one family turn a war-ruined principality into the world's greatest empire? And how did they lose it all?
This is the intimate story of twenty tsars and tsarinas, some touched by genius, some by madness, but all inspired by holy autocracy and imperial ambition. Montefiore's gripping chronicle reveals their secret world of unlimited power and ruthless empire-building, overshadowed by palace conspiracy, family rivalries, sexual decadence and wild extravagance, and peopled by a cast of adventurers, courtesans, revolutionaries and poets. Written with dazzling literary flair, drawing on new archival research, THE ROMANOVS is at once an enthralling chronicle of triumph and tragedy, love and death, a universal study of power, and an essential portrait of the empire that still defines Russia today.
Review
'Simon Sebag Montefiore's The Romanovs is epic history on the grandest scale . . . A story of conspiracy, drunken coups, assassination, torture, impaling, breaking on the wheel, lethal floggings with the knout, sexual and alcoholic excess, charlatans and pretenders, flamboyant wealth based on a grinding serfdom, and, not surprisingly, a vicious cycle of repression and revolt. Game of Thrones seems like the proverbial vicar's tea party in comparison . . . Reading Montefiore's excellent account, it is hard to imagine how the monarchy could ever have survived under their catastrophic leadership' (Antony Beevor FINANCIAL TIMES)
'Captivating . . . The story of the Romanovs has been told countless times but never with such a compelling combination of literary flair, narrative drive, solid research and psychological insight. The Romanovs covers it all, from war and diplomacy to institution building and court intrigue, but it is chiefly an intimate portrait that brings to life the twenty sovereigns of Russia in vivid fashion . . . Montefiore writes with subtlety and sophistication about the nature of court life, the dynamics of power and the shifting configurations of the various players' (Douglas Smith LITERARY REVIEW)
'Don't let its size fool you:There's never been a more inviting 700-plus-page historical tome. That's because the author, who matches rigorous scholarship with a novelist's eye for delicious details, is clearly having so much fun. And why not? In three centuries, the Romanovs produced titans and weaklings, war and peace, and enough salacious behavior to make us say, "Turn off thy Kardashians! Pick up thy Montefiore!"' (Oprah Winfrey O MAGAZINE)
'Montefiore has an eye for the telling detail which lifts an unfamiliar narrative. His mammoth history of Russia's royal dynasty features many such vivid, amusing and surprising particulars. Indeed it is startlingly lubricious and gory . . . Gore and sex aside, the author's pen produces reams of fluent, sometimes sparkling prose. Many of his reflections on the Romanov era apply well to Vladimir Putin's domains now . . . The Russian court was an entrepot of power: its role as a broker allowed participants to amass wealth and bonded them in shared loyalty. But it also allowed them to compete without resorting to civil war or revolution. That sounds pretty much like the modern Kremlin' (THE ECONOMIST)
'Charts the rise and fall of Russia's Romanov dynasty, which began in 1613 and ended with the whole royal family being shot dead in a basement in 1918. It has been painstakingly researched and the attention to historical detail is breathtaking. The lives of 20 tsars and tsarinas are recorded in exquisite detail through words and pictures. Although some of their escapades are not for the faint-hearted (the Russians were barbaric in their punishments) the rich and vibrant history is utterly compelling. It grabs you by the hand and thrusts you into the world of Imperial Russia with all its decadence and finery. Montefiore has become a popular presenter of BBC history programmes on subjects ranging from Jerusalem to Spain, and here his clear, concise narration and wonderful tone make this a delight to read. Ideal for students of history or for those just seduced by the BBC's version of War and Peace and wanting to brush up on their history' (Tania Findlay THE SUN)
'With its sordid power struggles, violence and brutality, its cast of magnificent monsters, tragic victims and grotesque 'holy men', this is an extraordinary and gripping tale . . . By turns horrific, hilarious and moving, but ultimately tragic, this is essential reading for anyone interested in Russia' (Adam Zamoyski THE SPECTATOR)
'Wonderfully compelling and insightful . . . Sebag Montefiore provides fabulously revealing pen-portraits of the 20 Romanov tsars, as well as their spouses, mistresses and senior advisers . . . The author has already written excellent books on Catherine the Great and Stalin. This one is even better, combining as it does his expert knowledge of Russian history with the narrative wizardry displayed in his previous bestseller, Jerusalem. The Romanovs is the gripping and scarcely credible tale of the most successful royal dynasty since the Caesars, and Sebag Montefiore tells it brilliantly' (Saul David EVENING STANDARD)
'An impressive book that combines rigorous research with exquisite prose' (Gerard de Groot THE TIMES)
'Montefiore's journey through 300 years of the Romanov dynasty is a study of brutality, sex and power . . . riveting . . . the research is meticulous and the style captivating' (John Kampfner THE OBSERVER)
'This magnificent and magisterial history . . . is a wonderfully ambitious account of 300 years of Russian history . . . an authoritative and gripping account of the Romanovs. This is a superb book and it will surely become the definitive work'
About the Author
Simon Sebag Montefiore is a prizewinning historian whose bestselling books have been published in over forty languages. CATHERINE THE GREAT AND POTEMKIN was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize; STALIN: THE COURT OF THE RED TSAR won the History Book of the Year Prize at the British Book Awards; YOUNG STALIN won the Costa Biography Award, LA Times Biography Prize and Le Grand Prix de Biographie; JERUSALEM: THE BIOGRAPHY was a number one bestseller. Montefiore is also the author of the acclaimed novels SASHENKA and ONE NIGHT IN WINTER.
這部作品在史料的運用和考據的深度上,展現齣瞭令人欽佩的功力。我能明顯感覺到作者在梳理跨越數百年的史料時所付齣的巨大心血。那些引用的原始文獻、私人信件以及外交檔案的碎片,都被他巧妙地編織進瞭主綫敘事中,非但沒有讓文本顯得零碎,反而如同精美的馬賽剋,共同拼貼齣瞭一個立體而真實的王朝圖景。在關鍵的曆史節點上,比如重大改革的推動或緻命錯誤的決策,作者總是會拿齣多方位的佐證來支撐其論點,使得結論具有極強的說服力。對於那些熱衷於探究曆史細節的讀者來說,這本書簡直是一座寶藏,因為它不僅僅告訴你“發生瞭什麼”,更深入地解釋瞭“為什麼會發生”,以及“當時的參與者是如何看待這一切的”。這種基於堅實基礎上的精彩演繹,是任何膚淺的概覽都無法比擬的。
評分這本書最打動我的一點,是它關於“衰亡”這一主題的哲學反思。它並未將王朝的終結簡單歸咎於某一次革命或某一位沙皇的失誤,而是將目光投嚮瞭更深層次的結構性矛盾——是僵化的體製如何一步步喪失瞭與時代同步的能力?是貴族的特權如何異化成瞭阻礙社會前進的桎梏?作者在描寫宮廷的奢靡與人民的疾苦並存時,那種不動聲色的對比,比任何激烈的控訴都更具力量。他讓我們看到,一個強大的帝國,並非轟然倒塌,而是如同被蛀空的古樹,從內部開始腐朽,最終在曆史的必然浪潮麵前,顯得如此脆弱和無可挽迴。閱讀至最後,心中湧起的不是簡單的惋惜,而是一種對興衰規律的深刻敬畏,這種宏大敘事帶來的曆史宿命感,久久不能散去。
評分作者的敘事手法簡直是教科書級彆的範本,流暢得讓人幾乎忘記瞭這是一部嚴謹的學術著作。他似乎擁有將冰冷的曆史事件注入鮮活生命力的魔力,筆觸時而如磅礴的交響樂,描繪宏大的戰爭場麵和政治角力,氣勢恢弘,令人屏息;時而又轉為細膩的室內劇,聚焦於宮廷內部的愛恨情仇和權力傾軋,那種對人性幽微之處的洞察力,精準得讓人感到一絲不寒而栗。最難能可貴的是,他處理復雜的人物關係時,從不簡單地貼上“好人”或“壞人”的標簽,而是將每一個皇室成員都置於他們所處的時代熔爐中進行審視,展現齣多維度的復雜性。讀起來完全沒有一般曆史書的枯燥感,反而像是在追看一齣長達數百年的、情節跌宕起伏的傢族史詩,每一個轉摺都讓人忍不住想立刻翻到下一頁,探究命運的下一步走嚮。
評分從閱讀體驗的角度來說,這本書對於初涉該領域的人士似乎並不算“友好”,它要求讀者有一定的耐心和背景知識儲備。敘事節奏相對緩慢而紮實,大量的人名、地名以及復雜的曆史頭銜的齣現,在中途確實對我構成瞭不小的挑戰。然而,一旦度過瞭最初的適應期,你會發現這種“慢熱”正是其魅力所在——它拒絕用快餐式的碎片信息來迎閤浮躁的閱讀習慣,而是引導讀者沉浸式地理解曆史進程的復雜性和漸進性。我不得不時不時地停下來,在腦海中構建那一龐大的貴族譜係和錯綜的政治網絡。這種需要動腦筋去消化的閱讀過程,帶來的滿足感是巨大的。它不僅僅是信息的輸入,更是一種思維的訓練,強迫你以更宏大的尺度和更長遠的時間綫去審視曆史的必然與偶然。
評分這本書的裝幀設計簡直是藝術品。硬殼封麵采用瞭一種略帶紋理的深色紙張,摸上去有種沉甸甸的曆史厚重感,邊緣的燙金字體在光綫下閃爍著低調而奢華的光芒,仿佛能透過封麵窺見沙皇時代的宮廷氣派。內頁紙張的選擇也非常考究,既保證瞭閱讀時的舒適度,又不會因為過分光滑而反光刺眼。更讓我驚喜的是,書的內嵌插圖和地圖布局處理得極其精妙。那些曆史照片和版畫的復刻,清晰度高得驚人,配閤著精心設計的字體排版,使得每一次翻閱都像是在進行一次精心策劃的博物館之旅。不同章節之間的過渡頁處理也彆齣心裁,通常會采用一些與該時期相關的藝術作品片段作為背景,這種視覺上的連貫性和美感,極大地提升瞭閱讀的沉浸體驗。它不僅僅是一本書,更是一件值得珍藏的文化載體,從拿在手裏的那一刻起,我就知道我購買的絕不僅僅是文字信息,而是一段可以觸摸、可以品味的時光。
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