From the acclaimed author of Amelia Lost and The Lincolns comes a heartrending narrative nonfiction page-turner. When Russia's last tsar, Nicholas II, inherited the throne in 1894, he was unprepared to do so. With their four daughters (including Anastasia) and only son, a hemophiliac, Nicholas and his reclusive wife, Alexandra, buried their heads in the sand, living a life of opulence as World War I raged outside their door and political unrest grew into the Russian Revolution. Deftly maneuvering between the lives of the Romanovs and the plight of Russia's peasants and urban workers--and their eventual uprising--Fleming offers up a fascinating portrait, complete with inserts featuring period photographs and compelling primary-source material that brings it all to life.

Before you begin -- Russia 1903 -- Beyond the palace gates: peasant turned worker -- Before the storm -- "I dreamed that I was loved" -- Beyond the palace gates: a peasant boyhood -- "What a disappointment!" -- Beyond the palace gates: lullabies for peasant babies -- "A small family circle" -- Beyond the palace gates: another family circle -- Dark clouds gathering -- The year of nightmares -- Lenin, the Duma, and a mystic named Rasputin -- Beyond the palace gates: house no. 13 -- "Pig and filth" and family fun -- Beyond the palace gates: an occupation for workers' daughters -- Gathering clouds -- Three centuries of Romanovs -- Beyond the palace gates: a different kind of education for a different kind of boy -- The storm breaks -- "My God! My God! What madness!" -- In defense of mother Russia -- Beyond the palace gates: Vasily's diary -- The reign of Rasputin -- It all comes tumbling down -- Beyond the palace gates: molecule in a storm -- "Ye tyrants quake, your day is over" -- Beyond the palace gates: "ye tyrants quake, your day is over" -- Final days -- "Survivors of a shipwreck" -- Beyond the palace gates: the "Tsar's surprise party" -- Into Siberia -- Beyond the palace gates: swarming the palace -- The house of special purpose -- Deadly intent -- "The world will never know what has become of them" -- Beyond the palace gates: life under Lenin.