Peter the Great

His Life and World

By: Robert K. Massie

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson

Length: 43 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

This superbly told story brings to life one of the most remarkable rulers––and men––in all of history and conveys the drama of his life and world. The Russia of Peter's birth was very different from the Russia his energy, genius, and ruthlessness shaped. Crowned co-Tsar as a child of ten, after witnessing bloody uprisings in the streets of Moscow, he would grow up propelled by an unquenchable curiosity, everywhere looking, asking, tinkering, and learning, fired by Western ideas.

We see Peter in his 20s traveling "incognito" with his ambassadors to the courts of Europe; as the victorious soldier proclaimed Emperor; as the simple workman at his forge; and as the visionary statesman who single-handedly created a formidable world power. Impetuous and stubborn, bawdy and stern, relentless in his perseverance, he was capable of the greatest generosity and the greatest cruelty.

©1980 Robert K. Massie (P)1991 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Enthralling.... As fascinating as any novel and more so than most!" ( New York Times Book Review)

Tour de force

Excellent depiction of one of Europe's most fascinating leaders. A sense of the enormity of Peter's achievements comes across - engaging, intriguing, enthralling. Essential to understand these forerunners of the current autocrats of Russia to see why the Russian people seem to prefer this approach to government.
I thought the narrator - despite our American friends protestations- was perfect for this role - of the times adding a scholarly tone to proceedings- highly recommended - if only there were more on ancient Russia on audible!

Excellent!

Would you listen to Peter the Great again? Why?

Yes! So much fact and documentation, the reader will gain from a 3rd and 4th reading!

What did you like best about this story?

Kept my attention!

Have you listened to any of Frederick Davidson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No.

Russian history is just the beginning. . .

What was one of the most memorable moments of Peter the Great?

Saint Petersburg's founding

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

There's too much to digest.

Any additional comments?

Massie takes the time to fully introduce the peers of Peter The Great along with their countries and how interconnected they were. I never knew how powerful Sweden was or how influential Dutch merchants were. I wanted to delve into Russian history and now my favorite European historical figure is Peter because he was tireless in his effort to make his country a leader in trade, navy, and power. His curiosity in how everything worked was refreshing.

Taking a break from it...

What did you like best about Peter the Great? What did you like least?

L..o..n..g book.... detailed and interesting but slow.

Would you be willing to try another book from Robert K. Massie? Why or why not?

I'll decide after I finish this one...

Any additional comments?

To be continued...

Well read account of the life of Peter the Great

Long but thorough review of the life of Peter the Great. Truly one of the founders of modern Russia.

Am I treating life.

This was a very deep dive into the life of a very interesting man. If you enjoy learning about historical figures I highly recommend.

Accurate title

His life and WORLD indeed. This is much more than a detailed biography of a fascinating man. Massie includes extensive character studies of every major figure on the European scene during Peter's rule, with major digressions into the social and political landscape in which they operated. The result is a sweeping appraisal of the age in Russia and its European and Ottoman environs, filled with evocative detail which brings it all to life. I found it most convenient to listen in fairly small bites over a long period of time and enjoyed the book extremely. Some of this history was fairly new to me, and following the peripatetic and much larger than life Peter through his extraordinary life was a great way to get to know it.

There is a good deal of military and campaign narrative in the book for which it is helpful to have some maps close at hand. The writing is of such a high caliber, however, that even those who are bored by military history will likely find enough colorful detail, along with glimpses of a plethora of intriguing characters of all stripes, to maintain interest. And in the end this is definitely not a book dominated by battles. Even in a narrative which is so wide ranging and all encompassing, only one subject dominates--the towering personage of Peter.

My only regret about this huge book is that so much of it will pass out of my memory in short order. Perhaps in a few years I will listen again, and that is high praise about so long a book from a person who almost never rereads.

Finally, though the book is decades old, written before the end of the Soviet Union, it still stands up very well, even read by Frederick Davidson in his sometimes irritatingly mannered style. I recommend it highly to any fan of well written popular history.

Engaging, easy to follow, and well narrated.

Mr. Massie's book is very engaging and flows with an easy narrative. The scenes and people are very well described, giving the reader a rich visual and psychological picture of Peter the Great's Russia. He does a great job of detailing not only great events but also such things as interior and exterior architecture, hairstyles, crime statistics, the different materials shoes were made of, what contemporary maps looked like, food eaten by peasants and at court, and etc. He also does great service to describing the situation of women in general but also the specific details of women whose lives came to bear on the story of Peter and current events. The many characters and parties are easy to keep track of, and all in all this book is a clear picture of the life and times of Peter the Great. The narration was clear and engaging - though I find that British accents can be sometimes hard to understand, I had no such problem with this audiobook. I would recommend this for any person, not only Russophiles or history buffs.

Excellent Book!

This audio version of a fantastic book is perfect. The narrator is grand, capable of pronouncing russian names without a problem, and keeping the right rythm, not reading to slow or to quickly.
The book is written, grouping the events and actions surrounding certain persons or places, or stages and attitudes of Peter's life, into chapters. It does not progress chronologically from event to event, be they unrelated, that the reader would soon feel themselves asking "who is he? and how does he relate?" It is excellently structured, it reads well. I give it a top notch rating.

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