![]() ![]() I never thought I would find detailed analysis of an 18th century battle interesting, but in the skilled hands of Robert Massie, the description of Poltava is a real page-turner. This is a major work conveying not just the details of Peter's life, but a sweeping observation of all aspects of Russian life. Against the monumental canvas of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe and Russia, unfolds the. We also have fascinating impressions of Peter's major contemporaries, especially Charles Xll of Sweden who emerges as a major protagonist in the book. Peter the Great: His Life and World Massie, Robert K. That Peter emerges from this event without appearing a monster is a tribute to the author's skill. ![]() ![]() Perhaps the most poignant event is the death of the Tsarevitch Alexis from torture ordered by his father. We see the autocratic ruler, the reformer determined to drag his country into the modern world, the jovial seaman unwilling to stand on ceremony and the paranoid character who sees plots to depose him everywhere. Mr Massie paints a balanced picture of Peter, warts and all. If it doesn't, this would confirm a four star rating for the work as a whole. The only reason I have given it four rather than five stars is that the illustrations are difficult to make out on the Kindle, and I suspect that the paper edition would have had pictures of the major characters which are not on the e-reader. ![]()
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