I read a book on the last days of the Romanovs earlier this year and it is a tragic tale. You are right in that Nicholas was not ready for the world stage but it was thrust upon him at the death of his father. His relationship with his family is very touching

• it was obvious he loved them very much, and while his track record as a leader was not good, that does not justify the murder of him and his family.

It was a very strange time but in many ways, there are a lot of echoes of that history playing out right now. The intermarriage of the heads of the different states for power reminded me a great deal of how many high ranking government officials are married to media figures to control communications. The St. Petersburg crowd and the bubble they lived in is similar to DC/NY/LA/SV bubble and their narcissistic tendencies. The sheer hatred they had for Alexandra reminds me of Trump - she was raised British but both had German backgrounds. Way too much money in the hands of a few. Bolshiveks were violent people - look at Antifa. It was a little eye opening.