Published to coincide with the centenary of the Russian Revolution in 1917, Dynastic Rule celebrates one of the great success stories of a stormy period of Russian history. This book tells the story of two directors of the State Hermitage Museum, who (for over five decades between them) have presided over what has become one of the greatest museums of the world. Saved from the Bolshevik revolution in 1917, the Hermitage was run from 1964 until his death in 1990 by Boris Borisovich Piotrovsky. His son, Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovsky, took over the reins in 1992; his tenure has recently been extended until at least 2020.