Tsar, "a gripping storyteller (who) does not disappoint here" (The New York Times Book Review). Radzinsky paints a picture of the Soviet strongman as more calculating, ruthless, and blood-crazed than has ever been described or imagined. photo insert....

Edvard Radzinsky is justly famous as both a biographer and a dramatist, and he brings both skills to bear in this vivid, page-turning, rich portrait of one of the greatest of all Romanovs. Alexander II was Russia's Lincoln -- he freed the serfs, promised a new, more liberal state for everyone, yet was brought down by a determined group of terrorist anarchists who tried to kill him six times before finally, fatefully, succeeding. His story proves the timeless lesson that in Russia, it is dangerous to start reforms, but even more dangerous to stop them. It also shows that the traps and dangers encountered in today's war on terrorists were there 150 years ago....

The author of the best-seller, The Last Tsar, presents a dramatic new version of the life of the Soviet dictator, based on recently recovered documents from Russia's secret archives, including the files of the former KGB. 60,000 first printing. $60,000 ad/promo....