Peter the Great: His Life and World

Peter the Great: His Life and World is a 1980 work written by Robert K. Massie. The book won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.[1] The book chronicles the life of Peter I of Russia, and is divided into five parts: "Old Muscovy", "The Great Embassy", "The Great Northern War", "On the European Stage", and "The New Russia".[2][3]

It was adapted in a 1986 TV miniseries. The scholarly American Historical Review debunks the book's many scholarly failures. Massie does not read Russian and overlooked the main scholarly studies in English, while relying heavily on an 1884 British biography. While the reviewer cannot recommend it to scholars, he concludes:

A colorful, dramatic, at times gripping story is told here in fine detail and in effortless prose. The book is flawlessly printed...and generously, if not always accurately, illustrated. It far surpasses, in volume rather than in acumen or grace of style, the other popular biographies of the first Russian Emperor – by Alex de Jonge and by M. S. Anderson....It will serve to advance the cause of serious history more likely than not, among the general public.[4].</ref>

References
  1. "The Pulitzer Prizes: 1981 Winners and Finalists". Columbia University. The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
  2. Massie, Robert K. (October 1981). Peter the Great: His Life and World. New York City: Ballantine Books. pp. vii–ix. ISBN 0-345-29806-3.
  3. Massie, Robert K. (22 February 2012). Peter the Great: His Life and World (Random House Trade Paperback ed.). New York City: Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-307-81723-5.
  4. James Cracraft, "Peter the Great (Book Review)" American Historical Review (Oct 1981), Vol. 86 Issue 4, p886–887.


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