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
