Czars: Russia's Rulers for More Than One Thousand Years (Serial)

Book by Duffy, James P., Ricci, Vincent L.

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.

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.