From the acclaimed author of Amelia Lost and The Lincolns comes a heartrending narrative nonfiction page-turner--and a perfect resource for meeting Common Core standards. When Russia's last tsar, Nicholas II, inherited the throne in 1894, he was unprepared to do so. With their four daughters (including Anastasia) and only son, a hemophiliac, Nicholas and his reclusive wife, Alexandra, buried their heads in the sand, living a life of opulence as World War I raged outside their door and political unrest grew into the Russian Revolution. Deftly maneuvering between the lives of the Romanovs and the plight of Russia's peasants and urban workers--and their eventual uprising--Fleming offers up a fascinating portrait, complete with inserts featuring period photographs and compelling primary-source material that brings it all to life.

Before you begin -- Russia 1903 -- Beyond the palace gates: peasant turned worker -- Before the storm -- "I dreamed that I was loved" -- Beyond the palace gates: a peasant boyhood -- "What a disappointment!" -- Beyond the palace gates: lullabies for peasant babies -- "A small family circle" -- Beyond the palace gates: another family circle -- Dark clouds gathering -- The year of nightmares -- Lenin, the Duma, and a mystic named Rasputin -- Beyond the palace gates: house no. 13 -- "Pig and filth" and family fun -- Beyond the palace gates: an occupation for workers' daughters -- Gathering clouds -- Three centuries of Romanovs -- Beyond the palace gates: a different kind of education for a different kind of boy -- The storm breaks -- "My God! My God! What madness!" -- In defense of mother Russia -- Beyond the palace gates: Vasily's diary -- The reign of Rasputin -- It all comes tumbling down -- Beyond the palace gates: molecule in a storm -- "Ye tyrants quake, your day is over" -- Beyond the palace gates: "ye tyrants quake, your day is over" -- Final days -- "Survivors of a shipwreck" -- Beyond the palace gates: the "Tsar's surprise party" -- Into Siberia -- Beyond the palace gates: swarming the palace -- The house of special purpose -- Deadly intent -- "The world will never know what has become of them" -- Beyond the palace gates: life under Lenin.