The definitive short biography of the enigmatic Peter the Great Peter the Great (1672-1725), tsar of Russia for forty-three years, was a dramatic, appealing, and unconventional character. This book provides a vivid sense of the dynamics of his life-both public and private-and his reign. Drawing on his letters and papers, as well as on other contemporary accounts, the book provides new insights into Peter's complex character, giving information on his actions, deliberations, possessions, and significant fantasy world--his many disguises and pseudonyms, his interest in dwarfs, his clowning and vandalism. It also sheds fresh light on his relationships with individuals such as his second wife Catherine and his favorite, Alexander Menshikov. The book includes discussions of Peter's image in painting and sculpture, and there are two final chapters on his legacy and posthumous reputation up to the present.

Peter the Great, often known as the Tsar Reformer, initiated a program of modernization and Westernization that affected the lives of all his subjects. He founded a new capital, St. Petersburg, which became a symbol of cultural change, and a navy, which signaled Russia's emergence as a maritime power. He also reinforced the old institutions of serfdom and autocracy. This magisterial book-a history of Peter and the Russia he governed-examines the impact of a man who was both acclaimed as the architect of the New Russia and condemned as a crude despot who sacrificed cherished traditions for the sake of international success. Drawing on previously unavailable sources, Lindsey Hughes provides an engrossing account of one of the most significant periods in Russian history. She proceeds thematically, discussing Russia's foreign policy, the army and navy, economy, governing institutions, society, arts, education, and religion. She explores the experience of women and investigates the life of the court (including Peter's "All-Drunken Assembly"), feasts, entertainments, and popular culture. Although the book is not a biography, Peter is a vivid presence throughout-a six-foot-seven-inch giant who enjoyed the company of dwarfs and ordinary people, adopted disguises and pseudonyms, married a peasant, and had a passion for cultural reform. Hughes recounts the events that shaped Peter's youth, provides an intimate character sketch, and explores his complex family relations (including the tragic conflict with his eldest son Alexis, whom he condemned to death). Her account closes with a reconsideration of the Petrine legacy from Peter's time to our own, as his name and image become harnessed to sell beer and cigarettes and the erection of his statue provokes recent controversy.

This book presents a vivid and original portrait of the entire Romanov family, who shaped Russian history and politics for three centuries and whose legacy still sparks the public's imagination. For 300 years the history of Russia was inextricably linked to that of one family: The Romanovs. Claiming a divine right to reign and tracing the family line back to Peter the Great they shaped the history of Russia, for better or for worse, for three centuries. The influence of Michael, Ivan, Catherine II, Nicholas I and Alexander III defined the politics, society, art and philosophy of their times and lead to the establishment of Russia as one of the great world powers. But when the Romanov's gathered to celebrate their tercentenary in 1913 dark clouds were gathering all around. Rasputin had prophesized their demise and his unpopular influence on the Tsar was growing. The strain of the First World War had spread unrest throughout Russia. On 17 July 1918, three-hundred and four years of the Romanov dynasty ended when, probably under Lenin's orders, Tsar Nicholas II, his wife and five children were brutally murdered by a Bolshevik execution squad. This brilliant and original new work on the entire Romanov family paints a vivid picture of the dynasty and illustrates exactly what it contributed to the creation of Russia. By bringing the characters of the Tsars and their family to life Lindsey Hughes has added so much to our knowledge of this fascinating dynasty.