Peter the Great: A Biography [Paperback]

Dr. Lindsey Hughes (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 030010300X | ISBN-13: 978-0300103007 | Publication Date: March 11, 2004

Lindsey Hughes, author of the classic account of Russia during the reign of Peter the Great, here provides the definitive shorter biography of this dramatic, appealing and unconventional character. The book tells the story of Peter the Great (1672-1725) from birth to death in twelve chapters, including two final chapters on his legacy and posthumous reputation with the aim of providing a vivid sense of the dynamics of his life and reign. The focus is firmly on Peter himself: his actions, deliberations, decisions, relationships, tastes and possessions, and includes the more bizarre aspects of his character, such as his interest in dwarfs, the use of disguises, clowning and vandalism. The main sources are his letters and papers, both published and unpublished, as well as other contemporary accounts and letters. The narrative comprises both the public and private life, the life Peter lived as well as his significant fantasy world. Hughes offers fascinating new material on the 'alternative' or 'parallel' history of Peter's many disguises and pseudonyms, his deference to a number of mock superiors (Prince-Caesar, Prince-Pope, the mock Chief Surveyor), and his relationships with individuals such as his second wife Catherine and his favourite Alexander Menshikov. In each chapter she explores Peter's image in painting and sculpture, bringing the story to the present day with a discussion of controversial monuments in Moscow and St Petersburg.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Peter the Great, who ruled Russia from 1682 to 1725, has gone down in history as the man who opened Russia to the West. This accessible scholarly review of Peter offers no bombshells to change this view, but it does add nuance and understanding. Hughes modulates the view of Peter's radicalism: in many of his reforms (Peter established a hierarchy for Russian nobility and thrust Russia onto the world stage as a power with Russia's victory over Sweden), he was simply extending policies launched by his father; in other areas, his reforms dissipated after his reign ended. A professor of Russian history at University College London, Hughes (Russia in the Age of Peter the Great) also pays careful attention to something that is often neglected opposition to Peter's rule; he became czar under dubious circumstances after his sister, who was acting as regent, was sent off to live in a convent. But in other aspects, Hughes gives Peter his rightful credit as a new-world maker. Regarding Peter's Academy of Sciences, an example of his support of scholarship, Hughes writes, "[I]ts significance for Russia's scientific and intellectual life was enormous." Nor does she neglect Peter's personal life. She notes his love of drinking, his fascination with dwarfs and his personal relationship with the woman who became his second wife, a relationship consummated long before she took the title of Catherine I. This book will likely become a standard for scholars and students who want a short but comprehensive account of Peter the Great.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Though the reigning popular biography of Russia's Westernizing czar is Robert Massie's Peter the Great (1980), this more scholarly treatment is also a reliable source for the chronology of the autocrat's life. Furthermore, Hughes delves into topics not covered in Massie's dramatic narrative, such as the appraisal of Peter's reforms by subsequent generations of Russians. Peter was the first czar whose image was accurately painted, in itself a symbolic break from the past of iconic representations. He is also the first czar about whom an assessment can be made largely from contemporary documents, rather than court chronicles, and Hughes is clearly expert in handling the material. There can be no doubt Peter was psychologically affected by witnessing, at age 10, killings of members of his court faction, and throughout his life, he delighted in abasing his entourage (he notoriously tortured to death his son, Czarevitch Alexis, in 1718). Civilizer and barbarian--Hughes offers both sides of Peter the Great in her able biography. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (March 11, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 030010300X
• ISBN-13: 978-0300103007
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #874,950 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Introduction, February 17, 2003

By 

Bradley Helms (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Peter the Great: A Biography (Hardcover)

Overall a very nice, concise account of the life of Peter the Great. A very good introduction to those who wish to learn about this period of Russian history but have little starting background. I did think the last chapter which focuses on monuments to Peter since his death was a little dry and could easily have been edited out without affecting the overall quality of the book

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Scholarly jargon, February 5, 2005

By 

M. H Shamp (Columbia Falls, MT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Peter the Great: A Biography (Hardcover)

This book is good for historians, no doubt, but probably not the the rest of the people, like me. I read paragraphs without knowing what I read, and it's hard to glean any interesting information. Consider, for example, this paragraph:

"In an attempt to recover Russia's prestige, gain a stronger bargaining position with the allies and ward off Turkish attacks on Ukraine, in 1695 Peter reopened hostilities ina campaign against the Turkist coastal fort of Azov at the mouth of the River Don. He dispatched two armies, the joint force of Boris Petrovich Sheremetev and the Ukrainian hetman Ivan Mazepa to the Dnieper to delfect the Tartars from the mouth of the Don and a smaller unit consisting of the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky guards and strel'tsy on river craft down the Don to Azov itself."

I understand it, but I am not excited by all this information. The description is just too dry for my taste. I am very interested in Peter the Great because I know he went around Europe, and even worked as a carpenter. I'll find another biography elsewhere.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great book, April 29, 2008

By 

Russell D. Melling "World's Greatest Anglophile" (Coatesville, Indiana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Peter the Great: A Biography (Paperback)

The best single volume biograghy of Russia's Westernizing Tsar. If you don't want to spend weeks Reading Robert Massie's "Massive" tome, this is the book for you!