The Shadow of the Winter Palace: The Drift to Revolution, 1825 - 1917

This book encompasses a period which starts almost a century before the Great War started, and yet it is relevant in that it traces, in a very well written way, how the Romanovs arrived at their eventual destiny. Even if the first three quarters of a century of the book's story is excluded (which would in any event be unfair), what remains is useful for those studying the Russian involvement in the war. But it is a good read in toto as well.