GERHARDI, William

Small quarto, 21 x 26 cm., original blue cloth, gilt lettered spine, double-headed Romanov eagle in gilt to upper board, deckle-edged paper, 542pp.. With b/w plates and index. A splendid volume in very good condition, clean and tight except for family tree of early Russian rulers in ink to rear end-papers. "Gerhardi does nothing in the routine way, and so it is no surprise to find this a most uncannical historical approach to the Romanovs. He telescopes his material, starting and ending with Nicholas II, presenting the highlights and then turning back the pages to get at the roots of the whys and wherefores. The result is good reading, stimulating to intelligence and imagination" Kirkus