Peter the Great: His Life and World by Robert K. Massie Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Peter the Great: His Life and World
Book Review: A brilliantly written biography
Summary: 5 Stars
Massie has written THE definitive biography on Russia's most influential and important Czar, Peter I. The story of his life reads like fiction, although it is all true: escaping a palace revolt as a child, learning several trades in order to better understand the work, traveling abroad, building a new capital for the Russian empire, modernizing the Russian army, streamlining the Russian beauracracy, expanding the Russian empire's borders, "westernizing" Russia. This laundry list of accopmplishments and changes are highlighted by Massies lucid and vivid writing, making Peter a flesh and blood ruler - a person with passion and temper, intelligence and a sense of humor. The scholarship is first rate, adding to the strength of the book. I highly recommend it, not only as a biography or history, but as simply good writing.
Book Review: A classic work on a fascinating man
Summary: 5 Stars
I am working on a doctorate in Russian history, and, consequently, have read many, many, books on Russia. This book is by far the best book on Russian history. Robert Massie's Peter the Great is an elegantly-written work which not only provides abundant and overflowing information about the "great" man, but which, like no other book, transports the reader into the world of late 17th century and early 18th century Russia. I know that many "serious historians" pooh-pooh this work and others because it is not "serious history." This attitude is tragic. If you are interested at all in good history and good story-telling, this is the book for you, even if your interest is not specifically in Russian history. The author presents his subject, Peter the Great, as a "real person"--one with both inspiring qualities and with not so inspiring qualities. Yes, there are alot of details about the military, however, these details all illustrate Peter's great attention to the creation of a navy from scratch and of the development of an army that went on to rival the greatest in the world. I cannot say enough good things about this book, and cannot thank the author enough for having written it and having inspired me to continue my own studies.Book Review: A fascinating biography of a fascinating ruler
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is very interesting and well-written. Mr. Massie divides Peter's life and rule into several major subdivisions and then proceeds to thoroughly discuss each one. The book traces Peter's near-revolutionary reforms in both foreign and domestic policy. These changed Russia from a poor, isolated state on Europe's periphery to a major power on the European scene. In the sphere of foreign policy, Peter built a formidable Russian navy from almost nothing, and used it to end Swedish hegemony in the Baltic. He also opened up and/or expanded Russian trade contacts with Western Europe. On the domestic scene, Peter imported crucial Western technology (and Western Europeans) to better develop Russia.
I especially enjoyed Mr. Massie's detailed atention to the different political actors in Europe in Peter's time, and his sympathetic portrayal of Peter.
Book Review: A fascinating book that you won't be able to put down
Summary: 5 Stars
I thoroughly enjoyed this book that Robert K. Massie wrote about the life and personality of Peter the Great and the challenges he faced in trying to make Russia a major power on the European stage of the 18th century. Although Peter is accurately described as being a driven, uncompromising, and oftentimes ruthless man, this book also presents his softer, warmer side that usually opened up only to his second wife Catherine and to his inner group of trusted friends.In reading the biography of Peter, a great deal of insight is also gained into the society and politics of 17th-18th century Russia and Europe, which in the hands of any other historian might be written in a dry and abstract manner. With Massie, however, he has such an engaging narrative style that the book reads like an action novel at times (such as in describing the Battle of Poltava).
Each personality of monarchs that Peter dealt with in Europe and the Middle East is given an ample introduction in "Peter the Great", which is entertaining reading in its own right. For example, we learn that Augustus II, King of Poland and useless ally of Peter in the Great Northern War, was a sexual philanderer of extreme proportions and that Frederick Wilhelm I, King of Prussia, had his famous collection of giants and suffered from pains that almost drove him to insanity.
Of course, a major portion of the book is devoted to the conflict between Peter and his archnemesis Charles XII in the Great Northern War. Massie recounts how Charles' fanaticism and his legendary aura of invincibility eventually brought the Swedish empire to its knees.
All in all, this is a book that would appeal to the general interest reader, as well as to the Russophile and to the person interested in European history. If you do get this book, try to get the hardcover edition, because a 915+ page book in paperback starts to fall apart after awhile. And you definitely want to have a nice-looking copy of this book to grace your bookshelf for a long time.
Book Review: A great biography with real insight into the times
Summary: 5 Stars
While this book was published in 1980, I sought it out only recently as preface to a planned trip to St. Petersburg. I have sometimes been intimidated by books like "Peter the Great" that have won the Pulitzer Prize, and other times I have been disappointed in literature that has won that honor. In "Peter the Great, His Life and Times", I found a book that was approachable, fast paced, and absorbing; while at the same time scrupulously researched, impeccably written and thorough.
While this book, is, at its root, a chronological biography of a fascinating 17th/18th century leader, it is also an colorful travelog, an exciting chronical of wars and battles, and chock full of political maneuvering and intrigue at court. The book is as entertaining as it is informative.
The stage for Peter's rise to power is set with Russia belatedly emerging from isolation and the darker ages into a vibrant Europe dominated by France's "Sun King", with important supporting roles played by Holland, England, Poland, Sweden and an emerging German state. The young Peter travels across Europe incognito, meeting the various heads of state and learning the trade of shipbuilding from his Dutch hosts. From his youth, Peter was fascinated with boats and the sea. Later, as an adult ruler of a vast nation, his realization that, in order to take its place in the modern world, Russia needed a deep water port, provided much of the motivation for many of the key events of his reign.
It's a great book about the determination of an individual to drag his country, mostly kicking and screaming, into the modern world. While gaining insight into the man, one also comes away with some understanding of the antecedants of the modern Russian people.
I highly recommend this book, and only wish that it had been available in the Kindle edition. At 900 plus pages, the book is quite literally, a "heavy" read, and it accompanied me on several trips.