THE ROMANOVS

It is sad not to be able to shower this historian with the praise her style, intelligence, and experienced knowledge deserve. But, in case there have been any doubts, you cannot compress eighteen ruling Romanovs and one Regent, plus families, friends and enemies, into 320 pages. Twenty-five pages for Peter the Great; twenty-nine for Catherine the ditto; and a mere twenty-two for Alexander I (of whom the author gave us a full-length biography earlier this year) is simply not enough. The book reads like an elegant encyclopedia entry; and while it no doubt will prove a wise addition to any library collection, as an outline or reference book, it is as unreadable as beef extract is inedible.