Peter the Great: (Critical Issues in World and International History)

Centuries after he ruled Russia from 1689 to 1725, Peter the Great remains one of the most revered and enigmatic leaders in world history. Now in a new edition, this penetrating study by noted Yale historian Paul Bushkovitch casts new light on Peter and his times, and demonstrates why it is impossible to comprehend the later course of Russian history without first grasping Peter's profound influence. Bushkovitch illustrates how Peter, during his thirty-six years as tsar, transformed his country into a modern nation—he strengthened the state, reorganized the army, established a navy, and conquered new territories. In addition to these momentous achievements, Peter changed the face of the Russian character by introducing European culture, scientific innovations, and political thought to Russia. His influence ultimately paved the way for liberalism, Western-style nationalism, and communism. In the end, neither his contemporaries nor generations of future historians can agree on how Peter should be remembered: was he a heroic reformer who brought Russia into the modern age, or a violent despot who valued the ideas of foreigners over Russian heritage?

Table of Contents:
Chronology Introduction Chapter 1: Russia at the End of the Seventeenth Century Chapter 2: Tradition and Westernization Chapter 3: A Quarter-Century of Conflict, 1676–1699 Chapter 4: The Era of Experimentation, 1700–1716 Chapter 5: Crisis and Resolution, 1716–1725 Chapter 6: Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Reform Primary Sources Index About the Author

About the Author :
Paul Bushkovitch is Reuben Post Halleck Professor of History at Yale University. His books include The Merchants of Moscow (1580–1650), Religion and Society in Russia: The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, Peter the Great: The Struggle for Power 1671–1725, and A Concise History of Russia.

Review :
This deceptively simple book pulls off a nearly impossible task. It tells the story of Peter the Great and the different, complex worlds in which he lived—from the Moscow of the boyars to the Greenwich observatory to the shipyards of Zaandam and Amsterdam. Bushkovitch brings to life both Peter and the entire Russian court in their encounter with Europe beyond Poland, Sweden, and Denmark. Scottish doctors, English astronomers, Italian architects, French garden designers, Ukrainian clerics, and German engineers all take their turn in bringing Peter and his family into an ever-wider orbit. Most remarkable is the balance of deft, vivid character sketches with a sophisticated analysis incorporating the latest research. Bushkovitch manages to distill decades of scholarship and reflection into a single short volume. Thus this is not only an introduction to Peter and to Russia in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, but to the state of the field. An outstanding study of a fascinating and crucially important monarch by one of the Western world's most thoughtful and inspiring experts on Russian history. Bushkovitch writes with admirable directness, and this fine book argues more vigorously than any other for the significance of the Muscovite legacy in the reign of Peter the Great. In this brief and easily digestible biography, Bushkovitch captures the essence of Peter's powerful personality—his physical strength, his ceaseless curiosity, and his indomitable will. Unlike several of Peter's earlier biographers, Bushkovitch downplays his subject's image as a lone-wolf modernizer; rather, he asserts that Peter often acted in concert with many of his supposedly reluctant nobles. This well-written survey of the life of an important, dynamic, and often frightening ruler should encourage general readers to delve deeper into the subject. This is an exciting book that will provide readers with a very different look at early 18th-century Russia. Bushkovitch illuminates the complexities of reform and aristocratic politics during the last years of Alexis Mikhailovich as well as during the reigns of Tsar Fyodor and the regency of Sofia Alexeevna. The scholarship is excellent and it contains new material on the role of the great aristocrats during this period. Bushkovitch's direct and clear writing style is appropriate for all audiences from the least to the most sophisticated. He has the ability to convey the most interesting information in a clear and sensible manner. It is Bushkovitch's incisive analysis of Peter the Great's relations with his aristocracy that sets this volume apart from other books on the subject. By demystifying the achievements of Russia's greatest ruler, Bushkovitch distills the complex personal politics of westernization for the general reader. It should serve as the standard introduction to Peter the Great for years to come. Unlike so many books that stress Peter's foreign policy, Bushkovitch's Peter the Great focuses on domestic and cultural reforms and Peter's struggle with conservative aristocratic opposition. Concise and tightly argued, this book sets forth the myriad contexts in which Peter acted—Muscovite tradition, seventeenth-century cultural change and late Baroque Europe—and analyzes the key reforms. By focusing on power and political reform, Bushkovitch brilliantly demonstrates the logic behind Peter's incessant drive to europeanize Russia. A dramatic, clear, and engaging portrait of Russia's great emperor and his policies... An original and convincing explanation of Peter's reforms of Russian government.