大象传媒

From the last days of the monarchy to the Red Terror of the Bolshevik Revolution and then Stalin's 'Operation Former People' the hundreds of thousands of families who formed the Russian nobility were subjected to a series of bloodthirsty purges.

This disparate group of people ranged from the entrenched monarchists of the old Tsarist regime to the impoverished rural nobility who struggled to make a living out of their lands.

Some of these nobles were in favour of change and supported the revolution but very few families escaped without at least one member experiencing imprisonment, exile, forced labour or execution. Palaces were looted and estates burned as the enemies of the new soviet state were made to pay over and over for their centuries of glittering privilege.

Drawing on meticulous research including letters and diaries from the period Douglas Smith brings to life the tiny human details of this extraordinary and tumultuous time.

Episode 2 of 5
The dying days of the Tsarist Empire were both glittering and desperate as the aristocracy partied their way into history, the workers demanded a fair wage and violence erupted both at home and abroad.

Read by Robert Powell
Abridged and produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for 大象传媒 Radio 4.