cover image Russia in the Age of Peter the Great

Russia in the Age of Peter the Great

Lindsey Hughes. Yale University Press, $65 (656pp) ISBN 978-0-300-07539-7

All of the important topics about the single individual who did more to affect the course of imperial Russian history than any other are covered here in remarkable detail: Peter the Great's establishment of Russia as a military power with his victory in the Great Northern War; his creation of the Table of Ranks, the basis of Russia's famous bureaucracy; his Westernization campaign. Hughes, a professor of Russian history at the University of London, leaves no stone unturned as she describes how Peter attempted to ""modernize"" Russia. But while she notes in her introduction that she had access to previously unopened Russian archives, it's unclear what the details Hughes has gleaned from these archives have added to our overall knowledge about Peter. For the general reader, the best parts of the book come buried in the last section, where Hughes departs from her emphasis on the Petrine age and focuses on the more personal aspects of this 6' 7"" man. Peter's fascinating private life--most of his 14 children died at a very young age, and he most likely helped his heir die by ordering his torture--shows that political scandal and intrigue is nothing new. Scholars and students of Russian history will welcome this encyclopedic work; those looking for a popular introduction would be better off trying Robert Massie's Peter the Great. (Sept.)