Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Romanov (1856–1929) was a key figure in late Imperial Russia, and one of its foremost soldiers. At the outbreak of World War I, his cousin, Tsar Nicholas II, appointed him Supreme Commander of the Russian Army. From 1914 to 1915, and then again briefly in 1917, he was commander of the largest army in the world in the greatest war the world had ever seen. His appointment reflected the fact that he was perhaps the man the last Emperor of Russia trusted the most. At six foot six, the Grand Duke towered over those around him. His fierce temper was a matter of legend. However, as Robinson's vivid account shows, he had a more complex personality than either his supporters or detractors believed. In a career spanning fifty years, the Grand Duke played a vital role in transforming Russia's political system. In 1905, the Tsar assigned him the duty of coordinating defense and security planning for the entire Russian empire. When the Tsar asked him to assume the mantle of military dictator, the Grand Duke, instead of accepting, persuaded the Tsar to sign a manifesto promising political reforms. Less opportunely, he also had a role in introducing the Tsar and Tsarina to the infamous Rasputin. A few years after the revolution in 1917, the Grand Duke became de facto leader of the Russian émigré community. Despite his importance, the only other biography of the Grand Duke was written by one of his former generals in 1930, a year after his death, and it is only available in Russian. The result of research in the archives of seven countries, this groundbreaking biography—the first to appear in English—covers the Grand Duke's entire life, examining both his private life and his professional career. Paul Robinson's engaging account will be of great value to those interested in World War I and military history, Russian history, and biographies of notable figures.

This is a new release of the original 1933 edition.

Beskrivelse af fascistiske bevægelser blandt russiske emigranter, som efter revolutionen i 1917 i deres eksil søgte at kompensere for deres magtesløshed ved at hengive sig til desperate fantasier.

From Helen Rappaport, the New York Times bestselling author of The Romanov Sisters comes After the Romanovs, the story of the Russian aristocrats, artists, and intellectuals who sought freedom and refuge in the City of Light. Paris has always been a city of cultural excellence, fine wine and food, and the latest fashions. But it has also been a place of refuge for those fleeing persecution, never more so than before and after the Russian Revolution and the fall of the Romanov dynasty. For years, Russian aristocrats had enjoyed all that Belle Époque Paris had to offer, spending lavishly when they visited. It was a place of artistic experimentation, such as Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. But the brutality of the Bolshevik takeover forced Russians of all types to flee their homeland, sometimes leaving with only the clothes on their backs. Arriving in Paris, former princes could be seen driving taxicabs, while their wives who could sew worked for the fashion houses, their unique Russian style serving as inspiration for designers like Coco Chanel. Talented intellectuals, artists, poets, philosophers, and writers struggled in exile, eking out a living at menial jobs. Some, like Bunin, Chagall and Stravinsky, encountered great success in the same Paris that welcomed Americans like Fitzgerald and Hemingway. Political activists sought to overthrow the Bolshevik regime from afar, while double agents from both sides plotted espionage and assassination. Others became trapped in a cycle of poverty and their all-consuming homesickness for Russia, the homeland they had been forced to abandon. This is their story.