Like many ruling dynasties, the Romanovs were a mess. It gives a good view into some of the thoughts of the Russian ruling class that still help to explain some current modes of thinking.

Like the shark that can clean its gills only by eating more, Menshikov could survive only by consuming more to safeguard what he already had. If he stopped, he would be destroyed - the dilemma of Russian power, then and now, when the retirement of a leader is impossible without insurance that he will not be prosecuted nor his fortune confiscated. His rapacity soon around 'general hatred'.