I read this bio of Peter the Great as I'm interested in history yet know - or knew - hardly anything about this famous Russian Czar.

I found the rivalry Peter had with half-sister Sophia at the early stages of his life to be interesting. It's a shame that Abbott details the latter stages of Sophia's life so early in the narrative, as when she "reappears" later on as a potential threat to Peter's reign, I know nothing will happen because the author has already stated what becomes of Sophia.

This will make no difference to anyone already familiar with Peter the Great's life story, but for someone like myself, being essentially ignorant of Russian history, I would have been more engaged with the events being recalled had I not already been informed of the fate of a major personage in Peter's story.

The middle section of this bio features passages that bored me a little. Jacob Abbott occasionally digresses from the subject matter, which I found irritating, but I dealt with this by skimming over certain paragraphs. Once Peter declares war with the king of Sweden my attention was renewed.

The history of Catharane, how she became Peter's wife, and how she proved a great influence on him is an interesting part of this history.

Peter's son to his first wife occupies most of the latter stages of this bio. Alexis is not devoted or respectful to his father. Their conflict and Alexis's attitude to life in general is quite surprising. ( )