Description
Book SynopsisA narrative of the fifty years of political struggles at the Russian court, 16711725. This book shows how Peter the Great was not the all-powerful tsar working alone to reform Russia, but that he colluded with powerful and contentious aristocrats in order to achieve his goals.
Trade Review'… based on a massive amount of research in Russia and Europe and is a masterpiece of scholarship.' Contemporary Review
'… an outstanding work of scholarship. The scale of the achievement is enviable: by scouring European archives and applying his forensic intelligence to a daunting range of published sources in several languages, Paul Bushkovitch has given us a wholly refreshing view of the politics of Peter's reign, rich in texture and all the more attractive for being expressed in plain English … there is not a dull page in the book … readers at almost every level of sophistication have much to learn from it.' Reviews in History
Table of ContentsPreface; List of abbreviations; Introduction; Prologue: court politics and reform; 1. Tsar and boyars: structures and values; 2. The ascendancy of Artamon Matveev, 1671–6; 3. The reign of Tsar Fyodor, 1676–82; 4. The regency of Sofia, 1682–9; 5. Peter in power, 1689–99; 6. Peter and the favourites: Golovin and Menshikov, 1699–1706; 7. Poltava and the new gubernias, 1707–9; 8. The Senate and the eclipse of Menshikov, 1709–15; 9. The affair of the tsarevich, 1715–17; 10. The end of Aleksei Petrovich, 1718; Epilogue and conclusion, 1718–25; Bibliography; Index.
