Peter the Great: His Life and World

Against the monumental canvas of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe and Russia unfolds the magnificent story of Peter the Great, crowned co-tsar at the age of ten…his incognito travels in Europe…his unquenchable curiosity about Western ways…his obsession with the sea and establishment of the stupendous Russian navy…his creation of an unbeatable army…the construction of St. Petersburg on swampland…his transformation of Russia…his relationships with those he loved most: Catherine, the robust yet gentle peasant, his loving mistress, wife, and successor; and Menshikov, the charming, bold, unscrupulous prince who rose to wealth and power through Peter’s friendship. Impetuous and stubborn, generous and cruel, tender and unforgiving, a man of enormous energy and complexity, Peter the Great is brought fully to life.