Peter the Great by Robert K. Massie Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Peter the Great
Book Review: masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
Just finished this book and couldn't put it down. The writer masterfully documents the life of Peter and the surrounding events in his world. He gives just enough information about life and times of France, Sweden, Prussia, etc. I found Peter fascinating and a rarity among monarchs who generally don't want to get their hands dirty. I visited St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) back in the 80's and wish I had the background that I have now.Book Review: one of the great biographies
Summary: 5 Stars
I've always been a great reader of novels, but reading this book a couple of years ago has made me into a reader of history. Massie has a grand subject -- Peter opened a long-sleeping Russia to the West, founded St. Petersburg (a beautiful city built, somewhat like Venice, basically on a body of water) and fought many wars. People must have kept great diaries back then because Massie is able to recreate events at court and battles from multiple points of view, lending the book a novelistic richness. Equally impressive, since the book is as much about Peter's times as it is about him, Massie pauses to include mini-essays about the many places and types of things that Peter the polymath was involved in. So you get a brief sketch of the Netherlands at the time, or about popular torture techniques of the day, that don't break up the overall narrative flow. It's a long book but a great read