Three hundred years of the genius and madness of the Romanov dynasty

A little bit of background📃

I've always been incredibly fascinated by Russian and Soviet history. I picked up The Romanovs at the Lifeline Bookfest in 2025 but it took me almost a year to get around to reading it as it's a huge book. I wondered how even in 650+ pages a book could provide a comprehensive account of such an important dynasty. Did it succeed? Read on for my review.

The Romanovs 1613-1918 | Published January 2016 | Read May 2026

The author✏️

Simon Sebag Montefiore (born 1965) is a British historian and television presenter. He has written several historical works, both fiction and non-fiction, mostly on Russian history. Sebag Montefiore was born in London to a Russian Jewish family who escaped Romanov Russia's pogroms. He read history at Cambridge and worked as a banker, foreign affairs journalist and war correspondent, covering conflicts that arose out of the fall of the Soviet Union.

The subject matterℹ️

The title of the book says it all. The book explores the three hundred years of Romanov rule, from Michael I in 1613 to the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, whose murder, along with his wife and children in 1918, is the stuff of legend. Sebag Montefiore takes the reader on a journey through the history of the most successful dynasty of modern times, ruling one-sixth of the world's surface for three centuries. He paints a picture of the genius and the madness of autocracy and imperial ambition, power and decadence. The book charts the story of how one family turned the chaos Michael I inherited from Ivan the Terrible's late 16th century rule into the world's greatest empire, and then lost the whole darn lot.

My thoughts on the book💭

Whew, that was a wild ride! The Romanovs is almost 700 pages long and it's chocked full of detail, much of it unnecessary and uninteresting, and most of it related to the sexual exploits of the Romanov rulers. I made my way through the treacle quite quickly given the length of the book, but I must admit that I skimmed through a lot of the detail. And there's so much of it! So many names, dates and boatloads of administrivia!

Each chapter's list of the main players and the family tree helped with my understanding of who was who. I had to keep going back to that information, though, as the book's overemphasis on irrelevant detail - and the constant parade of Peters, Alexanders and Nicholases - made for a confusing read. This confusion is heightened by the distance the author keeps his readers from the Romanovs. It is clear that Sebag Montefiore detests the entire family - and I am sure there is much to dislike - but he papers over any achievements and goes for shock value rather than thoughtful analysis.

My overall take on The Romanovs is that it's a book of facts written to the detriment of a deeper understanding of all the players. There was so very little insight offered into the personalities and their motivations. I thought I'd learn more about history, too, given the length of the Romanov rule, their place in European and global history, and the massive changes the world went through in those three hundred years. There is some history to the book, but it's overshadowed by extremely graphic descriptions of torture, rape and killings and the Romanovs' sex lives. The author provides so little understanding of the geopolitical, historical and situational contexts of the three hundred year rule that it comes off as a timeline of monarchical rule without any heart or soul.

My key learnings🪴

Honestly, it beggars belief that the Romanovs lasted for three hundred years. While the two Greats - Catherine and Peter - seemed like they had some smarts, the other rulers were ruthless, decadent, and completely lacking in empathy for the ordinary folk. They were also a bit dim, but perhaps if they spent less time knee-deep in sexual exploits, they may have fared better.

Did I understand already that autocracy is baaaaaad and that primogeniture is no way to rule a country? Sure did. Reading The Romanovs only cemented this belief. The dynasty was characterised by oppression, lack of accountability, abuse of power, and the preservation of social hierarchy. History tells us that World War I had a significant impact on the fall of the House of Romanov, but it feels unlikely that it would have gone on forever, at least unless Nicholas II allowed the monarchy to reform. My key takeaway from the book is that the Romanovs were oppressors, narcissists, bigots, power and sex obsessed, serially unfaithful to their spouses, and generally unpleasant people.

In sum📝

I've struggled to rate The Romanovs. The subject matter fascinates me and I did build on my understanding of the dynasty, even if the book gets terribly bogged down in detail. I've settled on three stars, and even that feels generous. There is so much potential in Romanov history for a thoughtful analysis of the dynasty that had such a significant impact on Russia and the eventual Soviet Union and the world beyond its borders. If it's facts and detail you want and a timeline of Romanov rule, then this book is for you. I want to understand history, and Sebag Montefiore's book falls short on that account.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐