Understanding Russia
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Sign up todayPeter the Great
His Life and World
Narrator
Frederick Davidson
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Length
43 hours 35 minutes
Language
English
This superbly told story brings to life one of the most remarkable rulers––and men––in all of history and conveys the drama of his life and world. The Russia of Peter’s birth was very different from the Russia his energy, genius, and ruthlessness shaped. Crowned co-Tsar as a child of ten, after witnessing bloody uprisings in the streets of Moscow, he would grow up propelled by an unquenchable curiosity, everywhere looking, asking, tinkering, and learning, fired by Western ideas. We see Peter in his twenties traveling “incognito” with his ambassadors to the courts of Europe; as the victorious soldier proclaimed emperor; as the simple workman at his forge; and as the visionary statesman who single-handedly created a formidable world power. Impetuous and stubborn, bawdy and stern, relentless in his perseverance, he was capable of the greatest generosity and the greatest cruelty.
Robert K. Massie was born in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1929. He studied American history at Yale University and modern European history at Oxford University, which he attended as a Rhodes scholar. Peter the Great won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1981.
John E. Dowling is professor emeritus at Harvard University, and has done extensive research into the neurobiology of vision. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.
Frederick Davidson (1932–2005), also known as David Case, was one of the most prolific readers in the audiobook industry, recording more than eight hundred audiobooks in his lifetime, including over two hundred for Blackstone Audio. Born in London, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and performed for many years in radio plays for the British Broadcasting Company before coming to America in 1976. He received AudioFile’s Golden Voice Award and numerous Earphones Awards and was nominated for a Grammy for his readings.
Reviews
“Enthralling...As fascinating as any novel and more so than most!”
“By taking an enormous canvas and filling every inch of it with action and description...[Massie] has shown...precisely why this 6’ 7” epileptic was hailed as Petrus Magnus Imperator.”
“Written in a style that combines vigor, clarity, and sensitivity...should be the envy of historians and novelists alike.”
“This award-winning biography remains a classic study of a quite remarkable character in Russian history…Peter the Great provides the biographer with very rich pickings. Where Massie's volume triumphed over other predecessors, however, was in its extreme breadth of vision…[It] has all the components of a gripping novel, and is a must for all history buffs and biography fans, as well as all those who appreciate the rich diversity of Russian culture.”
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