Russian Revolution: Nicholas II to blame

Unlike the French Revolution, in which various reform proposals by the government were wrecked by the vested interests including the nobles, the Russian Revolution happened mainly because Nicholas II refused every compromise attempts; he was a firm believer of the traditional autocracy of the Tzar. You could say that he dug his own grave.

Many say that Orlando Figes' new history of the Russian Revolution is a rehash of his earlier book

A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution: 1891-1924 ,

but strangely this book is not in my local library system(which is normally excellent), so am enjoying the new one anyway, pertains lots of insights(or that I'm just a novice in Russian history lol).

Revolutionary Russia, 1891-1991: A History

Love the cover design too;