Imperial Legend: The Mysterious Disappearance of Tsar Alexander I

In "Imperial Legend", the reader is introduced to the mystery surrounding the death of Alexander I in a tiny backwater town of southern Russia in 1825. Troubetzkoy argues that Alexander I, who was continually wracked by guilt for his involvement in the death of his father, staged his own death so that he could renounce the crown and retire to a place where he could come to terms with his conscience. The author presents evidence that a starets (wandering holy man) by the name of Feodor Kuzmich, who mysteriously appeared in Siberia in 1836, was none other than Alexander himself. As Troubetzkoy tells us, this alleged connection between Alexander and Kuzmich has come to be known as the Imperial Legend.The first part of the book is devoted to a brief biography of Alexander I and touches upon his relationship with his father Paul I and his grandmother Catherine the Great, both of whom exerted a profound influence on the young man's personality. Equally important, Troubetzkoy provides a detailed account of the night when his father was forced to abdicate in favor of his son Alexander and was murdered in the process. Although Alexander apparently did not have any direct involvement in this coup, he was forever traumatized by what he considered to be a patricide. The second part of the book considers the scant information that is known about the starets Feodor Kuzmich as well as all of the mysterious circumstances and coincidences that add fuel to the Imperial Legend.The book is written in a clear and engaging style that gave me an enjoyable reading experience from start to finish. Although a number of editing errors were found in the text, these did not detract from the continuity of the story. Since Alexander's guilt over his father's death is the major assumption underlying the Imperial Legend, I felt that Troubetzkoy could have done a better job in emphasizing the relationship between father and son. As Troubetzkoy describes it, Alexander's father was a boorish neurotic who did not spend much time with his son and who harbored feelings of resentment against him. Now what kind of son would feel guilt over the loss of a father like that?I felt that most of the evidence linking Alexander and Feodor Kuzmich cited in this book was circumstantial and of a speculatory nature. The reader is presented with a variety of first- and second-hand accounts that can no longer be substantiated today. According to the book, only scant material evidence still exists that can show the two men were one in the same, with the rest of the evidence having mysteriously disappeared over the course of time (if in fact they existed at all).Nevertheless, popular belief and all of the mysterious circumstances that were reported to have happened serve to make the Imperial Legend an intriguing bit of history. Troubetzkoy stated that one of his major motivations in writing this book was to generate interest in the Imperial Legend in the hopes of raising funds needed to op

This book has haunted me ever since I first read it last year.I have wanted to write something of the "legend" and how, of all things, there is a tie to George Armstrong Custer, who diedat the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876. Read this book, you'll find your imagination running wild!I have a BA in History--so it takes a lot to impress me!

Why should an American reader care about Tsar Alexander I (1777-1825)? If you are of Polish descent, you might want to learn more about why in 1818 Alexander gave a constitution and some autonomy to Poland. If history is your thing, you cannot but notice the man whose generals and whose frozen land drove Napoleon Bonaparte out of Moscow and back across the Niemen river, ultimately to Waterloo. Members of the Russian Orthodox religion will want to know about a man who (in another identity) became a canonized saint.A Romanov tsar a saint? It is a stretch, but there is a long tradition ("the Legend") that the Tsar was driven by guilt to run away from his responsibilities. According to the Legend, Alexander I felt guilt for complicity in his father's 1801 assassination which had made him the Autocrat of all the Russias, He did not die in 1825. Nor did he abdicate. He just "disappeared." Perhaps he fled to Palestine on the yacht of a British aristocrat. Perhaps he reappeared in Siberia eleven years later as one Feodor Kuzmich. Perhaps the Tsar lived on in the new identity until 1864 when he died in the odor of sanctity. But not precisely "orthodox "sanctity. For he was not known to attend liturgies or to make regular confessions of sin.Alexis Troubetzkoy's IMPERIAL LEGEND:THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF TSAR ALEXANDER I is a good read. As soothing and smooth as a lullaby, the book introduces important aspects of 19th century Russian history and tells the story of two men: Alexander Romanov and Feodor Kuzmich. It is clear that generations of Russians and some international scholars believe that there is probable evidence that the two men were one. But what of those eleven blank years between the official death of the Tsar near the Caucasus and the appearance of the mysterious Kuzmich in Siberia? Troubetzkoy might want to make those missing years the subject of a follow-on book.The book has arresting photographs or portraits of the principals and a compact bibliography. Future editions might usefully include a map of the areas discussed.IMPERIAL LEGEND amply rewards a leisurely read.

Author Alexis Troubetzkoy's "Imperial Legened" explores the possibility that Russian Tsar Alexander I faked his own death in 1825 in order to shed the burden of the crown after twenty-five years of rule. There is plenty of evidence suggesting that this is more than historical speculation, even though all of it is circumstantial. The first half of the book is dedicated to a retelling of Alexander's reign, which featured spectacular successes (the defeat of Napolean) and personal torment (guilt over his own complicity in his father's murder). The picture that emerges is of a (relatively) enlightened Russian monarch who would very much have preferred not to be the king.The book goes on to recount the life of the mysterious Siberian vagabond that many Russians, including descendents of the Romanov dynasty, have come to believe WAS Alexander. If so, he shed the Imperial life about as completely as anyone ever could. Once again, the evidence is far from conclusive, but still compelling. Troubetzkoy is a good storyteller, and his narrative is highly readable.Overall, "Imperial Legend" is a good historical mystery that should be enjoyed by history buffs with an interest in Imperial Russia.

Rarely have I read a book so beautifully written and as well and thoughtfully researched as I have with Imperial Legend. A long-time student of Russian history and a writer in the field, I can promise the reader an exhilerating treat with Troubetskoi's work.