Peter the Great Through British Eyes: Perceptions and Representations of the Tsar Since 1698

Peter the Great's visit to England in January 1698 has been called "the most picturesque episode in the history of Anglo-Russian relations." This book shows how the British have responded to Peter during the past three centuries. It makes use of an extensive range of printed sources to show the reactions to his visit, his personality and his reign by contemporaries and by succeeding generations of journalists, biographers, poets and dramatists, as well as by painters and engravers.

"Jabotinsky's writings, is valuable...useful introduction." Slavic Review"Professor Anthony Cross, the self-styled `Old Man from Cambridge,' is not only one of the leading British specialists on eighteenth-century Russia but surely also the dean of scholars specializing in Anglo-Russian cultural relations." Slavic and East European Journal"...this study does make a significant contribution...it situates-intellectually and politically-some well-known sources that Russian historians have decontextualized and taken at face value...the author has filled a gap in the voluminous scholarship on Peter the Great, adding a useful foil to the treatment in the national historiography and more broadly in modern Russian culture." The Historian"Anthony Cross's latest work...adds to the author's impressive list of published monographs about Russian literature and culture...A meticulously thorough, detailed survey of published sources...a fine portrait of Cross's study...Cross's monograph is well written and presented." Canadian Slavonic Papers"...and interesting and well-balanced book." The International History Review"This is an engaging book, rich in anecdote and nicely illustrated with examples of Petrine iconography. Its entertainment value, however, should not detract from its serious message about the state of Anglo-Russian relations over three centuries." Canadian Journal of History

Explains how the British have responded to Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia, since 1698.

This book shows how the British have responded to Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia, since his momentous descent on London in January 1698. It uses an extensive range of printed sources to show the reactions to his visit, his personality and his reign by contemporaries and by succeeding generations.

Preface; 1. Prologue to a visit; 2. Peter in England, January-April 1698; 3. British reactions to the reigning Peter, 1698-1725; 4. Consolidation of a myth, 1726-1761; 5. The shadow of the bronze horseman, 1761-1801; 6. The testament of Peter the Great and British views of the tsar in the nineteenth century; 7. Peter on the British stage; 8. The British contribution to Petrine iconography; Epilogue.