Synopses & Reviews
The author of the best-selling Tolstoy, winner of France's prestigious Prix Goncourt, member of the Acadandeacute;mie Franandccedil;aise, and renowned expert on Russia paints yet another indelible portrait of one of Russia's imposing historical figures. Henri Troyat, author of acclaimed biographies of Catherine the Great, Tolstoy, and Turgenev, turns his attention to one of the most violent, demented rulers ever, Czar Ivan IV. Though this larger-than-life ruler inflicted torture on friends and enemies alike, destroyed villages and even killed his own son, he also forged what became 20th-century Russia.
Review
"The most intelligent and complex of all Russia's rulers, Ivan IV 'the Terrible' has long cried out for a biographer with the vision and sense of proportion to do him justice. Troyat does not fill the bill. This new study is a compilation of clichés snd sensational anecdotes, nothing more. There is no analysis of Ivan's reign, no real attempt to penetrate the workings of his mind, no glimpse of the Muscovy in which he lived. In short, Ivan is still waiting." Reviewed by Andrew Witmer, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)
Synopsis
The author of the best-selling "Tolstoy, winner of France's prestigious Prix Goncourt, member of the Academie Franaise, and renowned expert on Russia paints yet another indelible portrait of one of Russia's imposing historical figures. One of the most violent, demented rulers ever, Czar Ivan IV inflicted torture on friends and enemies alike, destroyed villages and even killed his own son. But he also forged what became 20th-century Russia. "Covers Ivan the IV in gory detail.""--Library Journal.