Peter the Great: The Struggle for Power, 1671-1725

This book is a history of Russian politics during a fifty-year period that saw the transformation of Russia into a European monarchy by Peter the Great. Bushkovitch demonstrates that the interaction of the tsar and the ruling elite was at the core of Russian politics as Peter managed to largely master the contentious elite by a series of compromises, ultimately toward one that favored new men without excluding the aristocrats entirely. The outcome was a new balance of power at the center, and a new Europeanized culture.

"...a masterful work of scholarship destined to be the authoritative political history of Peter's reign. Enthusiastically recommended for anyone interested in Russian history and culture." Slavic and East European Journal"Bushkovitch's lively study...accomplishes the extraordinary feat of charting the ins and outs of the Petrine elite and manages to render his detailed account in a readable and accessible way." The Journal of Interdisciplinary History"This is a solidly old-fashioned work of history.... Every student of the political history of Tsar Aleksei's reign and then of Peter's, and particularly of the prolonged transition between them, will find numerous details of interest here.... This book is an immensely rich store of new or neglected information and related or independent assertions that will both inform and provoke all interested readers for years to come." Journal of Modern History"...a masterful synopsis of what Bushkovitch sees as the prevalent schools of Petrine historiography..." Choice"Most of the book is an outstanding success....With respect to both the most outstanding member of the Romanov dynasty and the author of the excellent book, the transformation was far more than the work of one individual." Slavic Review

In Peter the Great, Yale historian and Russian scholar Paul Bushkovitch offers a brilliant, but concise, biography of this enigmatic leader.

A narrative of political struggles at the Russian court during Peter the Great's reign.

Paul Bushkovitch has been Professor of History at Yale University since 1992, having taught there since 1975. His books include The Merchants of Moscow 1580-1650 (Cambridge UP, 1980) and Religion and Society in Russia: The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (Oxford UP, 1992).

Preface; List of abbreviations; Introduction; Prologue: court politics and reform; 1. Tsar and boyars: structures and values; 2. The ascendancy of Artamon Matveev, 1671-1676; 3. The reign of Tsar Fyodor, 1676-1682; 4. The regency of Sofia, 1682-1689; 5. Peter in power, 1689-1699; 6. Peter and the favourites: Golovin and Menshikov, 1699-1706; 7. Poltava and the new gubernias, 1707-1709; 8. The Senate and the eclipse of Menshikov, 1709-1715; 9. The affair of the tsarevich, 1715-1717; 10. The end of Aleksei Petrovich, 1718; Epilogue and conclusion, 1718-1725; Bibliography; Index.