The women of Russia’s most famous dynasty tell their stories.

The Romanov dynasty began and ended in civil wars. In the three hundred years between these violent events, each of the dynasty’s women lived under very different circumstances.

Romanova: Women of the Empire, Volume I, begins with stories about Xenia Shestova, mother of Tsar Mikahil I, the first Romanov Tsar. During the Time of Troubles, Xenia was forced to become a nun and sent into exile in a faraway convent. She made her way back to Moscow to ensure her children’s survival.

These stories also focus on a number of other women of the dynasty, such as Tsarevna Irina, daughter of Tsar Mikhail, whose failed engagement to Prince Waldemar of Denmark became both a farce and a tragedy. Tsarvena Sophia, half-sister of Peter the Great, comes to life as she acts as Peter’s regent, directing both foreign and domestic affairs with great skill. Catherine the Great rises to power and expands the Romanovs’ empire. Her many granddaughters also make their mark on history. This volume ends with the story of Empress Alexandra, wife of Tsar Nicholas I, as the Decembrist Revolution rages in St. Petersburg.