Imperial legend

"Alexander I, one of Russia's greatest emperors, beloved of his subjects for his many liberalizing works and reforms domestically, and for his astounding - and unexpected - victory over the presumably invulnerable Napoleon Bonaparte, reigned from 1801 to late 1825. Caught up in the personal and political maelstrom between his domineering grandmother Catherine the Great and his highly neurotic and volatile father, Paul I, Alexander came to the throne as a result of a coup mounted against his father in March 1801. Alexander was devastated when the takeover turned violent and his father was…