For this episode, we visit imperial Russia and revel in the splendor of St Petersburg through the eyes of Empress Maria Feodorova, the protagonist of C.W. Gortner's novel, The Romanov Empress. 

Non-fictional resources referenced in this episode: 

1. Robert K. Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra: An Intimate Account of the Last of the Romanovs and the Fall of Imperial Russia (1967).

2. Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Romanovs 1613-1918 (2016). 

Montefiore also has an hour-long presentation on the Romanovs on YouTube, which is very informative: https://youtu.be/c6iZfDHBSN8