nicholas ii was still the same nicholas ii ruling with alexander the fourth.e did not start getting into a representative government. nothing changed. all it showed that the government was hollow and nicholas ii was a deeply incompetent ruler. brian: i'm at the end. nicholas and alexandra's assassination. the fact that the bolsheviks took over. i want you to lead us up to that and explain after this assassination of rasputin, when did the next step in this process take place? simon: it was in december of 1916. the monarchy literally lasted two months afterwards. the irony was, this was not a revolution led by lenin and stalin and trotsky. they were all in exile in siberia. in fact, lenin said just weeks before, the revolution would never happen, but here it came. it was totally unexpected yet easily predictable because people started to protest about food shortages in the capital and it quickly spread. the troops who were in the city started to fraternize with the rebels. and nicholas was far away at the front. brian: where was he? simon: he was right at the f

nicholas ii was still the same nicholas ii ruling with alexander before.e didn't start reforming the country or getting into a representative government. nothing changed. all it showed was that the government was hollow and that nicholas ii was a deeply incompetent ruler. brian: i'm at the end for a couple of reasons. nicholas and alexander's assassinations. nd the bull show vick's runup. explain after the assassination of rasputin. when is the next step in this process? simon: the monarchy literally lost two months afterwards. and the irony was that this wasn't a revolution led by lenin and stalin and trotsky. they were all in exile in siberia. lenin said weeks before we missed it. this revolution is not going to happen in my lifetime. but here it came. it was totally unexpected and yet easily predictable because people started to protest about food shortages in the capital and it quickly spread. the troops who in the city started to fraternize with the rebels. and nicolas was far away at the front. brian: where was he? simon: he was right at the front of

nicholas the second was still g withme nicholas ii rulin alex sappeder reform. or getting into a representative government. nothing changed. all it showed that the government was hollow and nicholas the second was a deeply incompetent ruler. >> i'm at the end. cholas and alexanders' assassination. i want you to lead us after that and explain after this asays nation of rass pew ten. when is the next step in this process. the monarchy literally lost two months afterwards. and the irony was that this wasn't a revolution led by lenin and stallen and trops i can. they were all inside sigh bear yeah. you know the resolution is never going to happen in my lifetime. but here it came. it was totally unexpected and yet yet people start to protect about food shortages and quickly spread. the troops who in the city started to fraternize with the rebels. and nicolas was far away at the front. >> where was he. he was right at the front of the quarters. his train got sidelined, supposedly stopped by workers and he found himself totally alone in the railway station in the middle

and when nicholas ii left, alexandra was back in petersburg. she found herself and in this preposterous nomination where she had complete contempt for particularly in germany. she found herself and me business of politics and she knew nobody. self-righteous, prudish woman, had to turn to someone. and that was rasputin, who only knew the most competent for the people in saint petersburg. the people he sent home were the most depraved people in saint petersburg. this was a test for free. this book is based on correspondence. there are several thousand that letters at that time. apart from being fascinating because they are passionate about each other. they are very close. it also reveals how isolated they were. wishes, by their own the way. depended, tothey the third degree, on rasputin. when you read the letters, you realize just how unstable she was. she was sending things like nicolas rasputin's rush and things like that. you realize that the prestige and the power of the monarchy is seeping away fast when she's in charge. brian: who didn't li