The October 1917 revolution, the civil war between the Bolsheviks and White Tsarist forces, and the execution of Tsar Nicholas II and his family in 1918 were far away from the halcyon Ceylonese days ...

The year is 1917. Millions of Russians had been either killed or wounded. The Russian people were angry at Tsar Nicholas II for getting Russia into the war.

In January 1917, the Russian empire is still governed by the all-powerful Tsar Nicholas II -- one man, answerable only to God, who rules more than 170 million people. The Tsar's armies have grown ...