Peter the Great: His Life and World

"Against the monumental canvas of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe and Russia unfolds the magnificent story of Peter the Great, one of the most extraordinary rulers in history. Impetuous and stubborn, generous and cruel, tender and unforgiving, a man of enormous energy and complexity, Peter the Great is brought fully to life in this exceptional biography." CONTENTS: OLD MUSCOVY: Old Muscovy; Peter's Childhood; "A Maiden of Great Intelligence"; The Revolt of the Streltsy; The Great Schism; Peter's Games; The Regency of Sophia; Sophia Overthrown; Gordon, Lefort and the Jolly Company; Archangel; Azov; THE GREAT EMBASSY: The Great Embassy to Western Europe; "It Is Impossible to Describe Him"; Peter in Holland; The Prince of Orange; Peter in England; Leopold and Augustus; "These Things Are in Your Way"; Fire and Knout; Among Friends; Voronezh and the Southern Fleet; THE GREAT NORTHERN WAR: Mistress of the North; Let the Cannon Decide; Charles XII; Narva; "We Must Not Lose Our Heads"; The Founding of St. Petersburg; Menshikov and Catherine; The Hand of the Autocrat; Polish Quagmire; Charles in Saxony; The Great Road to Moscow; Golovchin and Lesnaya; Mazeppa; The Worst Winter Within Memory; The Gathering of Forces; Poltava; Surrender by the River; The Fruits of Poltava; ON THE EUROPEAN STAGE: The Sultan's World; Liberator of the Balkan Christians; Fifty Blows on the Pruth; The German Campaign and Frederick William; The Coast of Finland; The Kalabalik; Venice of the North; An Ambassador Reports; The Second Journey West; "The King Is a Mighty Man..."; A Visitor in Paris; The Education of an Heir; A Paternal Ultimatum; Flight of the Tsarevich; The Future on Trial; Charles' Last Offensive; King George Enters the Baltic; Victory; THE NEW RUSSIA: In the Service of the State; Commerce by Decree; Supreme Under God; The Emperor in St. Petersburg; Along the Caspian; Twilight; Epilogue; Genealogy of the Romanov Dynasty, 1613-1917; Acknowledgements; Selected Bibliography; Notes; Index.