Peter the Great: His Life and World

Robert K. Massie

Random House Publishing Group, Feb 22, 2012 - Biography & Autobiography - 928 pages

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • An “urgently readable” (Newsweek) biography of the captivating tsar who changed Russian history—from the New York Times bestselling author of Nicholas and Alexandra, The Romanovs, and Catherine the Great

“Enthralling . . . as fascinating as any novel and more so than most.”—The New York Times Book Review

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. Robert K. Massie delves deep into his life, chronicling the pivotal events that shaped a boy into a legend—including 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, his transformation of Russia, and 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.

Contents

• A Maiden of Great Intelligence: 3
• Russia during the youth of Peter the Great 16721696: 14
• The Revolt of the Streltsy: 38
• Moscow: 40
• The Great Schism: 53
• Peters Games: 65
• The Regency of Sophia: 79
• Sophia Overthrown: 95
• Gordon Lefort and the Jolly Company: 108
• to Archangel: 124
• Azov: 134
• The Great Embassy: 153
• The Great Embassy to Western Europe: 155
• It Is Impossible to Describe Him: 168
• Peter in Holland: 178
• The Prince of Orange: 190
• Peter in England: 203
• Leopold and Augustus: 217
• These Things Are in Your Way: 234
• Fire and Knout: 244
• Among Friends: 262
• Voronezh and the Southern Fleet: 275
• The Great Northern: 287
• Mistress of the North: 289
• The Swedish Empire at the beginning of the Great Northern War: 293
• ཁཊྚ ིིR ཎྜ 3: 300
• Let the Cannon Decide: 302
• Charles XII: 312
• 18: 322
• Narva: 323
• The Battle of Narva I: 331
• 31: 336
• We Must Not Lose Our Heads: 339
• The Founding of St Petersburg: 355
• Menshikov and Catherine: 367
• The Hand of the Autocrat: 383
• Polish Quagmire: 397
• Charles in Saxony: 413
• The Great Road to Moscow: 427
• Golovchin and Lesnaya: 439
• The Swedish invasion of Russia 17081709: 441
• Poltava I: 448
• Mazeppa: 455
• The Worst Winter Within Memory: 467
• The Gathering of Forces: 479
• Poltava: 490
• Poltava II: 496
• Poltava IV: 503
• 38: 507
• The Fruits of Poltava: 516
• On the European Stage: 527
• The Sultans World: 529
• Liberator of the Balkan Christians: 539
• Fifty Blows on the Pruth: 552
• The Pruth campaign: 555
• The German Campaign and Frederick William: 567
• The Coast of Finland: 581
• The Kalabalik: 591
• Venice of the North: 602
• An Ambassador Reports: 613
• The Second Journey West: 624
• The King Is a Mighty Man: 635
• A Visitor in Paris: 644
• The Education of an Heir: 659
• A Paternal Ultimatum: 669
• 53: 681
• The Future on Trial: 692
• Charles Last Offensive: 711
• King George Enters the Baltic: 724
• Victory: 735
• The New Russia: 745
• In the Service of the State: 747
• Commerce by Decree: 770
• Supreme Under God: 783
• The Emperor in St Petersburg: 795
• Along the Caspian: 818
• Twilight: 828
• Epilogue: 846
• Genealogy of the Romanov Dynasty 16131917: 859
• Acknowledgments: 861
• Selected Bibliography: 863
• Notes: 869
• 79: 870
• 124: 884
• Index: 887
• 168: 894
• 190: 895
• 203: 897
• 217: 903
• 234: 904
• 244: 907
• Europe in the time of Peter the Great 910911: 910

About the author

Robert K. Massie was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and studied American history at Yale and European history at Oxford, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar. He was president of the Authors Guild from 1987 to 1991. His books include Nicholas and Alexandra, Peter the Great: His Life and World (for which he won a Pulitzer Prize for biography), The Romanovs: The Final Chapter, Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War, Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea, and Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman. Robert K. Massie died in 2019.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Peter the Great: His Life and World
• Author: Robert K. Massie
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2012
• ISBN: 0307817237, 9780307817235
• Length: 928 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Historical; Biography & Autobiography / Political; Biography & Autobiography / Royalty