Peter the Great

His Life and World

By: Robert Massie

Narrated by: Ted Samore

Cast between the 17th and 18th centuries, this gigantic, Pulitzer prize-winning biography is as impressive as the man himself. Peter the Great was an extraordinary ruler - impulsive and stubborn, cruel yet generous, tender and forgiving.©2007 Listener's Digest Inc (P)2007 Listener's Digest Inc

Critic reviews

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

A brief but great narrative.

This book tells briefly the story of the man who modernized Russia at least briefly.

Peter the Great was great

What made the experience of listening to Peter the Great the most enjoyable?

I am not a huge fan of biographies but in the interest of improving my knowledge, I tried Peter the Great. It was not a long story as Peter didn't live very long. Though short in length it was long in accomplishments. This is an intriguing tale that would interest any young boy as well as this old woman.

Any additional comments?

I don't usually enjoy tales of war, but this one was not so much of war as of conflict. Imagine a boy king of 10 (with a mother who was probably a genius) managing to not only continue to live, but to inspire a kingdom as enormous as Russia in an age where power could be absolutely changed with the stroke of a knife.

DON'T BOTHER

This is possibly the worst written book I have ever read. It should have won some award for the most run on sentences ever produced. Not only does the author interject personal observations and beliefs about historic events, he does it with the use of verbose and obscuring prose that totally looses the reader half way through an opaque explanation. To take such an interesting and rich story full of everything you could imagine, romance, drama, intrigue, war, personal trials and make it the most boring unintelligible drivel takes a super human effort. This author never fails to use 50 words where one would do. In his inflated writing a picture is worth 500,000 words, but is no clearer than it would be with 10. If you have any interest in Peter the Great and the beginnings of the European Russian era, Robert K. Massey has an infinitely better book. I believe it was a pulitzer prize winner, or it should have been.