Peter The Great
By Robert K. Massie
Ballantine Books - Reissue edition (November 1992)
ISBN: 0345298063 - TPB
Nonfiction / Historical Memoir

Reviewed by Carolyn Howard Johnson, MyShelf.Com
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This is a powerful history by a consummate historian. It is the history of the commanding ruler who raised St. Petersburg from a swamp and cat ulted Russia from a backwater to a country destined to be a world power. These two giants (Massie and Peter) propelled the City on the Neva to my list of top ten must-see places in the world.

I have had the hardcover (ISBN 031210443) in my library since 1981. Since I read it, Massie's call to Russia has been nagging me.

This summer I finally went with a program called Summer Literary Seminars. I pulled my tattered copy from my bookshelves and reread it. I warn those who are looking for light reading that this is a real history, full of detail. It is also exciting and thoroughly awe inspiring. Massie is a consummate historian but he could not go wrong with Peter as his subject.

I advise those who are interested in this period and this place to get their hands on the hardback. It contains maps and pictures between the covers that will increase both understanding and enjoyment. If, however, the paperback is the easier choice, my recommendation should not deter you from reading it at all. Given a choice, paperback is better than nothing.

Buy a nice lemon-yellow highlighter before you curl up with this book. Part of the fun will be keeping a record of the places you will want to go, the things you will want to see when - not if - you get to St. Petersburg, Peter (and Robert's) city of canals, seagulls and art. For once you have read it, you will not rest until you have seen it for yourself.

PS: For more information on this subject please see Carolyn's "Back to Literature" Column for August.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, is the author of "This is the Place"

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