Reviews for Peter the Great

The average rating for Peter the Great based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-09-21 00:00:00 Aleksei Limos So I'm going ahead and throw this on my Favorites shelf. I have an unbridged version, translated rather poorly into dutch somewhere between the 50's and 60's but still it has made an unbelievable impact on me. Where Leo Tolstoi wrote best about the rich Russian society, Alexi is the master of portraying the poor, the miserable, the dirty, the dying and the hopeless, all aided with amazing illustrations and typography In short: this 1000 page novel, (I have part 2 and 3 waiting for me) follows Russia (and Peter the tsar in particular) making the transition from old beliefs and morality, with huge beards and dirty clothing to the new, and appropriate, European way of dressing and behaving. This, of course, with much struggle from Russia, it's farmers and soldiers. Especially the last chapter, with Peter coming back from his trip of 1,5 years to Germany and Holland to learn crafts, discovering about the mutiny that had been going on in his army and the blood shedding that follows on the streets, bodies knotted up against walls and making his officials chop off the heads of the betrayers themselves, has left such a grim, dark and moody feel of which I'm not sure will be topped by another book soon. I'll throw in some more books in-between before I start #2 and #3 since the writing (translation) is difficult to stay engaged through. But boy I want to know how this will develop... My love, mother Russia, what a country...

Review # 2 was written on 2018-06-23 00:00:00 Daniel Myers Wat een leesplezier geeft dit historische epos van die ándere Tolstoj. In compacte zinnen wordt een levensecht beeld van de ambitieuze en impulsieve jonge czaar gegeven. Een jonge hond die nog veel moet leren, maar ook een die veel wil leren. Op p 405 komt hij aan in Zaandam en dat is als Zaandammer natuurlijk extra leuk om te lezen. En nu gauw naar deel II en III.