The Last Tsar

“The Last Tsar is filled with revelations and fresh insights…[Hasegawa’s] narrative is rich with observations about paths not taken and about the unintended consequences of the paths that were indeed taken.”—Wall Street Journal

“Mesmerizing.”—Telegraph

“An impressive, often brilliant book. The detail is mind-boggling and the skill with which political convolutions are unraveled is admirable.”—Times (London)

“Hasegawa suspensefully recounts scenes of Nicholas…[His] analysis of alternative outcomes to the unfolding tragedy makes for compelling ‘what-ifs’ and provocative history.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Compelling…A scholarly tour de force in which the author has absorbed the participants’ massive documentation and familiarized himself with a huge cast of characters, most unfamiliar even to history buffs.”—Kirkus

“Hasegawa has produced a credible, well-sourced, and readable retelling of a dramatic and consequential period in history.”—Washington Free Beacon

“This obsession with absolute power ultimately led to the downfall of the Romanov dynasty [Hasegawa] argues. His thesis is presented with clarity and conviction. It's also backed up with a wide range of new archival sources.”—Sunday Independent

“Over six decades, Hasegawa has been explaining a century of conflicts and misunderstandings between Russia and Japan with rare linguistic versatility, bringing to his work unremitting forensic research. He has also analyzed the disintegration of the Russian monarchy and the bewildering chaos of revolution. In this book, he examines microscopically how the Romanov dynasty lost power.”—Literary Review

“The capstone to a brilliant career, Tsuyoshi Hasegawa’s The Last Tsar is certain to become the definitive work on the chaotic, earth-shattering demise of the Romanov destiny. No historian before has dissected these tumultuous days with such clarity, precision, and insight.”—Douglas Smith, author of Rasputin

“The Last Tsar is a terrific account of the February 1917 Revolution in Russia that knocks down many of the pillars of our usual interpretations. Elegantly written and magisterially researched.”—Robert Service, author of A History of Modern Russia

“Hasegawa, whose previous works enriched our knowledge of what happened on the streets and in the corridors of power during that fateful year of 1917, has produced here an intimate and highly absorbing account of Russia’s last hereditary autocrat. It is likely to be the definitive one for many years to come. From the cult surrounding Rasputin to the tense minute-by-minute plotting of the generals, Duma politicians, aristocrats, and the Tsar himself, The Last Tsar brilliantly conveys the messy reality of imperial power coming apart at the seams.”—Lewis Siegelbaum, emeritus professor, Michigan State University

“Hasegawa’s masterful book is like a slow-motion picture of Russia approaching the edge. Yet only the weakness, inaction and stupidity of the last Tsar, as well as the stunning recklessness of the Russian elites, pushed the empire into the breach. A chilling lesson on how the ineptness of one man, and the opportunism of many, can pull down not only an outdated regime, but the entire temple of state, law, and civil society.”—Vladislav Zubok, author of Collapse