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: Great Story of a Great Man
Summary: 5 Stars
This without a doubt the finest book I have ever read. Massie brings to life one of the greatest figures in history. From Peter's early life+fascination with all things Western to the building of a huge Empire second only to that of England. The most fascinating part of the book are the chapters dealing w/The Great Embassy to Western Europe. Not only does trying to imagine a 6'7 inch Absolute Monarch trying to remain incognito bring a smile to you face,the Embassy gives Massie a chance to broaden the scope of Peter's story by giving snippets regarding the other great monarchs of the time. Louis XIV,William I,George I+most importantly Charles XII of Sweden whose Empire paid the price for Peter's ambition's. All are brought vividly to life. Most importantly he deals with the conflicted Man that was Peter the Great in a way I have seen no other author do with a subject. Peter was great man+ruler,but he also had a fierce temper+could he almost sadistically brutal. In giving us a portrait of a man--warts+all--Massie succeds in humanizing a Great Man. I cannot recommend this book high enoughBook Review: Great and entertaining
Summary: 5 Stars
This history book reads like a novel, a very good one. Is entertaining and the story flows giving you a great description of the main character as well as the other important players of the related time. At some point you won't know if you are reading about Peter or Charles of Sweden, even Louis the XIV and the Turks..., and you will want more from all of them. The best part is that the author won't let you down in any issue and you will know the end of every story he is trying to tell you. He will also fill you on the backgrounds of every character and society, so you won't feel lost at all.After this book, I went looking for more on those other characters, the Northern Wars, the wars of Louis the XIV and more on Charles XII and Gustavus Adolphus Wars. Even on Constantinople...
You will love it. Is a lock!
Book Review: HOLY COW!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Having just finished Peter the Great. I bow my head in awe and admiration at Peter Massie's amazing efforts. Having picked up the paperback version this summer out of sheer curiosity, I quickly found myself engrossed in Peter's world, life and relationships. I discovered how crucial his rule was to the Russian Empire. Massie does an amazing job presenting Peter's life in the most unbiased way possible. he shows Peter's good traits (hardworking, loyal, fair) to his worst (short tempered, sometimes quite violent). Pick up this book and read the first ten pages. I dare you to put it down after that. I guarantee you wont until you've read the last page.Book Review: His Life, His Times, His Russia
Summary: 4 Stars
A thoroughly enjoyable read, Robert K Massie superbly captures the mood of the man, his dreams, his times, his country, his friends and enemies and the people around him, and about all that can be expected in the scope of a magnificently written biography. This book reads lake an historical fiction novel, and yet Massie's sources make it clear that where it counts there is very little fiction about it. It is a wonderful read for anyone interested in the man who did so much to shape the course of modern Russian history, or otherwise anyone interested in this part of Russia's history in general. Of course, being a biography, there is little discussion on the plight of Russia's peasant majority, and at times it is almost tempting to empathise with Peter in his frustrations whilst forgetting that often countless peasants' lives were being ruined. However, accepting that it is inevitably biased towards Peter, this book makes for a marvellous history. Like any great fiction writer, Massie gives fascinating backgrounds on many of the characters central to Peter's existence, from the hardy foreigners who helped shape his early years and his passion for the seas, to his eventual arch nemesis, Charles XII of Sweden. The result is a fascinating read that is lacking in no criteria but where excitement and adventure are especially abundant.Book Review: Honorary Dutchman
Summary: 5 Stars
Massie explores this very complex character in the historical context of a rural, backward Russia lacking any Navy, and imprisoned in a feudal system centered on Moscow. How did things move to St. Petersburg? Where did the Navy originate? What happened to the Boyars's beards? What happened was Peter. First he grew up playing army with his friends, many of whom he later put in charge of the real army. Then he sojourned to the Netherlands to learn the art of shipbuilding, and to improve his drinking and lampooning skills. Then home to massacre his enemies, put his sister in prison, and murder his own son. In addition to building a new capital to shut out the influence of the old court at Moscow. Not nescessarily in that order. And they say the communists were tough. Peter's Summer palace still stands (or still is rebuilt from what the Germans did to it), and sports a Delft-blue tiled fireplace, with a Delft-blue image of Bacchus, the god of drunkenness on the mantle of it. Back in the heroic age of Russian history, when one guy could do all this, it's sobering to see his architectural remains, there and in Moscow. Then at the Winter palace, we still see the extensive Dutch art collection first amassed by Peter. Massie brings all of this to life, and not only for Western readers. On a trip to Moscow in 1981, I met a gigantic young man in a bar. "You're about as tall as Peter the Great" I said. "No" he replied in heavily accented English, "Peter was two centimeters taller." This was oddly refreshing to hear, back in those sclerosed-Boshevik days, and it would have been impossible to grasp any of it without this book. It might be even more appropriate now, since Leningrad is gone and St. Petersburg is back. And the last Czar is now reburied in the church in the Citadel, just outside of town, next to the Royal Mint founded by Peter.