Nicholas II, the last member of the Romanov dynasty, which ruled Russia for roughly 300 years, reigns as Russia’s last tsar from 1894 until he is overthrown during the Russian Revolution in 1917. In private, Nicholas is a pious man with a deep love for his family; in the political realm, his callous indifference to Russians’ suffering leads to the moniker “Bloody Nicholas.” Nicholas is a man of contradictions, alternately gentle and cruel, but ultimately his inability to take action defines his character, and leads to his downfall.

Nicholas II, a short, slight young man, is dwarfed both physically and metaphorically by his “bearlike” father, Alexander III (20). Alexander’s refusal to involve his son in politics lays the groundwork for Nicholas’s poor performance throughout his reign. Spending most of his youth at parties, Nicholas falls in love with a very strong, dominant woman, the Empress Alexandra, and he leans on her support from the moment Alexander dies and Nicholas becomes tsar. As Nicholas says to his wife, “‘I trust you to always know best’” (31).

Nicholas, who acknowledges that “‘I am not prepared to be tsar’” and “‘I never wanted to become one’” (29), breaks with Romanov tradition by moving the family’s residence from St.