Did Tsar Alexander the First, the absolute ruler of 44 million people, vanquisher of Napoleon, and one of the most powerful men in Europe, throw it all away to become a wandering, penniless penitent? If he did, is it possible, after all these years, to prove it? Alexis Troubetzkoy, a former history teacher in Quebec and Ontario and descendant of Russian aristocracy, believes the answer to both these questions is yes.

Alexander died unexpectedly in a remote corner of Russia in 1825. Almost immediately, the rumour that he had faked his own death to escape the pressures of power and atone for helping to murder his father spread across the land. When an enigmatic holy man appeared 11 years later in Siberia, the legend grew that he was actually Alexander and that the body buried in St. Petersburg was not the Tsar.

The first half of Imperial Legend gives a potted history of the brilliant (and sometimes insane) rulers of Russia from Catherine the Great to Alexander, the wars against Napoleon, and the country’s fitful movements toward liberalization. Despite occasional lapses into cliché, the section provides a useful and engaging primer on Russian history.

The rest of the book examines the death of the Tsar, the life of the mysterious penitent, and the possible cover-up. It is a readable account, particularly as Troubetzkoy does not go to great lengths to convince the reader of the faked death hypothesis, opting instead to simply point out the oddities and discrepancies in the historical record. His aim, he says, is to “generate sufficiently strong interest” to open the coffins of the Tsar and penitent and use modern science to solve the mystery.

Imperial Legend is an interesting introduction to a complex period of Russian history, an intriguing tale of mystery, and a fascinating examination of a man tortured by his past and by his responsibilities.