Kollekt︠s︡ii︠a︡ "Rossika" v Rossiĭskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ biblioteke: voprosy raskrytii︠a︡ Book

It is hard to be the kind, or in this instance the Tsar, when you know not whom to trust and/or believe. Ivan the Terrible was indeed just as his title describes him: terrible. It is easy to understand how he became such with his parents dying when he was quite young and him living under a ruthless regency. It is interesting to imagine what he might have been if his first wife had not died so young as there are suggestions that she kept him balanced. It is too bad that women's lives were not documented in more details in the 1400s-1800s. I found myself wondering as I read what was going on in other parts of the world during Ivan's reign of terror and at the moment I began to wonder the author included references to Europe and England. Ivan was infatuated with England and with Queen Elizabeth in particular and attention is given to this relationship. The first part of the book about Ivan's childhood read quite well. The middle portions on the battles grew quite tiresome. The last third about his waning years once again picked up speed. I was reminded, that with Ivan, as with Henry VIII, absolute power corrupts absolutely.