On becoming, at 26, the 18th in the Romanov line to rule Russia since 1613, Nicholas immediately took as his czarina Alexandra, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. He proved a better husband than monarch. Comfortable only with his family and inner court, Nicholas was easily swayed by advisers like the semiliterate faith healer Rasputin. Isolated from his subjects, he had no grasp of the vast unrest that would lead to the Russian Revolution - and to the violent end of the Romanov succession.