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This book is a scholarly, comprehensive, and critical biography of Nicholas II from his birth in 1868 to his execution in 1918. It features a chronological narrative emphasizing the political aspects of the Tsar's reign rather than details from his personal life--although new information about his ...

This book is a scholarly, comprehensive, and critical biography of Nicholas II from his birth in 1868 to his execution in 1918. It features a chronological narrative emphasizing the political aspects of the Tsar's reign rather than details from his personal life--although new information about his life is revealed. Nicholas II is portrayed as a conscientious and reasonably intelligent ruler whose reign was marred by inept statesmanship and a stubborn determination to uphold the autocratic tradition of the Romanov dynasty even though he was forced to grant major political concessions in 1905. His imprudent foreign policy in East Asia precipitated a losing war with Japan. But a more cautious policy in Europe nevertheless involved Russia in a far greater conflict in 1914 that resulted in enormous casualties, economic hardship, and the collapse of the monarchy in 1917. As an individual, Nicholas was gentle and benevolent (except towards political dissidents) and proved to be a good husband and father. The serenity of his family life was disrupted by his son and heir's hemophilia, and the ensuing Rasputin scandal impaired the Tsar's image and contributed to his unpopularity. A final chapter examines his legacy and provides a theory of revolutionary causation.

They were two of the most explosive dancers of the twentieth century, dazzling audiences with daredevil splits, slides, and hair-raising flips. But they were also highly sophisticated dancers, refining a centuries-old tradition of percussive dance into the rhythmic brilliance of jazz tap at its ...

They were two of the most explosive dancers of the twentieth century, dazzling audiences with daredevil splits, slides, and hair-raising flips. But they were also highly sophisticated dancers, refining a centuries-old tradition of percussive dance into the rhythmic brilliance of jazz tap at its zenith. They were Fayard and Harold Nicholas, two American masters masterfully portrayed in this new dual biography by Constance Valis Hill. In Brotherhood in Rhythm, Hill interweaves an intimate portrait of these great performers with a richly detailed history of jazz music and jazz dance, both bringing their act to life and explaining their significance through a colorful analysis of their eloquent footwork, their full-bodied expressiveness, and their changing style. Hill vividly captures their soaring careers, from Cotton Club appearances with Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and Jimmie Lunceford, to film-stealing big-screen performances with Chick Webb, Tommy Dorsey, and Glen Miller. Drawing on a deep well of research and endless hours of interviews with the Nicholas brothers themselves, she also documents their struggles against the nets of racism and segregation that constantly enmeshed their careers and denied them the recognition they deserved. And to provide essential background to their career and the development of their art, she also traces the three-hundred-year evolution of jazz tap, showing how it emerged in the Southern colonies in the 1700s, as the Irish jig and West African gioube mutated into the American jig and juba. More than a biography of two talented but underappreciated performers, Brotherhood in Rhythm offers a profound new understanding of this distinctively American art and its intricate links to the history of jazz.