Peter the Great

The author did a very good job portraying Peter the tyrant: a reformer, a heartless and bad-tempered ruler feared by his subjects. But I failed to see Peter the man: a loving son, a devoted husband, a friend, and a father to fourteen children. He was human, after all; he had many faults, but he had some good qualities as well. He was not evil, but he was unique, in both physical appearance and personality. Sadly, the book did not give me the chance to discern the whole person.


The book reads more like a textbook; it lacks good flow, is dry and painfully slows, and the writing in general is simply okay. And what happened to the Russian names? Why in the world where they 'translated' into English?! Peter's stepbrothers' names were Fedor and Ivan, not Theodore and John, as they are called in the book. Knowing the mind of Peter and the history that produced such a enigmatic power as the Soviet Union is worth your time. Who can be well read or well rounded without knowing the story of this man?