Isle and Empires: Romanov Russia, Britain and the Isle of Wight

Stephan Roman explores the tensions and conflicts that shaped the relationship between Russia and Britain during the rule of the Romanov Tsars. This was a pivotal period in the history of both countries and laid the foundations for the current tensions between Russia and Britain.

At the heart of Roman’s story lies the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England. Here both the Russian Imperial family and their political opponents, spent time and helped to shape the future relationship between the two Empires. This would culminate in the visit of Tsar Nicholas II and his family to Cowes in 1909, and it set the seal on the new Anglo-Russian partnership which would last until the 1917 Bolshevik revolution.

Roman takes us on a journey into a world of Imperial glory and power, family rivalry, wars, and alliances. He tells the story of Russia’s revolutionaries and radicals, and the refugees fleeing Tsarist oppression who found shelter and safety in Britain and the isle of Wight during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.