Peter The Great - Robert K. Massie

I appreciate friends who prod me to blog.  I have read a ton of books and need to catch up.  A friend from New Jersey knew I am a history junkie so he told me I had to read Robert K. Massie's Peter the Great.  This book is an easy read and a great add to anyone interested in Russian history.

So what did I get out of this book?  Peter was a leader - a transformative leader.  Unfortunately, leaders can't always be the boy next door.  Peter was all in and willed Russia out of the fog of history.  He had an amazing curiosity that drove him forward - always. 

His signature is his attempt to build a naval force and bring Western knowledge to Russia.  Most of his life's work evolves out of these primary focuses.

His first stop on this path was building a small fleet of barges to take an army down the Volga and over to the Don to raid the land of the Turks, fighting Tatars along the way.  The reason Peter used the river route is because he had originally tried marching armies down the steppe only to have the Tatars burn the steppe depriving the horses of forage and driving the army back.  The Tatars were regular raiders on Russian outer settlements taking peasants as slaves and selling them in the Crimea.  The barge concept eventually lead to success.  This was critical to gain the confidence of the Russian people - Peter then turned north.

Eventually Peter settled St. Petersburg which gave Russia an northern port.  From here he had seaworthy ships built and used them to advance Russia's influence in western Europe and in Finland and Sweden.  St. Petersburg is a city the Peter willed out of the marshes - literally almost built one log at a time.  Only someone with his primal focus could have settled a town there.  This is a city that I must see one day.

A funny story of Peter's disconnect with reality was when he tried to go on a fact finding trip to the West but didn't want anyone it was him.  Peter was almost a giant in his time so everyone knew who he was and word spread fast that he was heading to the next town.  He kept the sharade up through the entire trip even though he had crowds following him. 

As brutish as Peter was - and he was very much so, you have to take away that great/transforming leadership requires this type of focus and drive.  How else do you, as one man, influence not only your own backward country to great changes, but also strike fear in all of Europe?

So, an easy read and great insight into the Russian mindset.  If you have further interest in Russia consider some of these other great books - Russka ( a history of Russia from the beginning of its history to the Revolution) and The Great Upheaval (A comparison of the US, French and potential Russian Revolutions - great insight into Catherine the Great).