Nicholas and Alexandra.

A nearly entirely personal history of the last tsar and his family, mostly sourced from their letters and journals (though written in that dramatic history style which offers a lot of inner emotions and thoughts beyond sources)

One of the great works of biography-as-gossip. Massie is the ultimate Romanov sympathizer, and it makes this book (if not exactly truthful) thrilling reading. The love story of the Romanovs and their downfall, caused by a small twist of inbred fate, is the stuff of legend. Massie might have an alternate history in mind (overlooking class disparity, pogroms, and justified popular discontent) but this fairy tale gives you a good idea of the mindset of monarchists- hierarchical, obsequious, and above all romantic.

Exceptional work of history on a subject that continues to intrigue -- Russia, its expansions and contractions.