Introductory chapter: The Time of Troubles and the rise of the Romanovs -- Ivan V and Peter I (1682-1696): one autocrat too many -- Peter I (1696-1725): the eccentricities of an emperor -- Catherine I (1725-1727): the peasant empress -- Anna (1730-1740): "a bored estate mistress" -- Elizabeth (1741-1762): the empress of pretense -- Peter III (1762): "nature made him a mere poltroon" -- Catherine II (1762-1796): "prey to this mad passion!" -- Paul (1796-1801): "he detests his nation" -- Alexander I (1801-1825): Napoleon's conqueror -- Nicholas I (1825-1855): "a condescending Jupiter" -- Alexander II (1855-1881): "a crowned semi-ruin" -- Alexander III (1881-1894): "a colossus of unwavering autocracy" -- Nicholas II (1894-1917): "an absolute child" -- Nicholas II (1894-1917): "gliding down a precipice" -- Nicholas II (1894-1917): a bloody end -- Concluding chapter: Aftermath